It's Called 'Love'
by HamburgerWithTea
Summary: USUK,high school AU,Human names,T ,M, Arthur gets abused by his alcoholic dad, Alfred is a new transfer student. They meet and then become friends. Soon they start to feel more for each other, but they're both insecure and... Full Summary Inside [the sequel of this story is on hiatus!]
1. Chapter 1

_/Summary/_

_USUK, high school AU, Human names, Arthur gets abused by his alcoholic dad, Alfred is a new transfer student. They meet and then become friends. Soon they start to feel more for each other, but they're both insecure and Arthur still hides the fact that he's abused, though Alfred starts to figure things out…_

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>_  
><em>

Chapter 1

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>There I was; once again walking around on the street around two in the morning. I'm getting sort of used to this now. When I was younger I was just locked up inside my room, but as I grew older my dad figured it'd be better to just dump me outside and let me be until the next morning, so I just had enough time to fix my appearance and then grab a Subway sandwich on my way to school.<p>

Or no sandwich and just getting at school a small minute before the start of class.

I hated this life. My life. I felt like a weak and stupid lad who didn't even know how to defend himself. No matter how old I was I still wasn't mentally nor physically strong enough to protect myself from my own father. He still could frighten me so much that I'd hide myself away and go to my own imaginary world.

I've always been like this, ever since I was a kid. I was used to my dad's mood swings ever since he became an alcoholic. And that had happened when my mother died when I was just five years old.

Most of the time my brothers were my guardians and they'd protect me from most of the harm, but as the years passed they all moved out, thinking I was strong enough to protect myself -since at that time it seemed I was-. But I wasn't.

I've never been really strong physically and I always preferred being alone in my imaginary world and forget about the world around me. I guess that's why I started to read so many books. Also to forget about my home life I tried to make my father as proud as possible to prevent him from getting angry with me, which made me focus on my studies as if it were my whole life.

And thus I now attended a rather well-known high school. I had to work pretty hard at my part-time jobs but I got lucky my brothers cared just enough about me to send me a bit of money on a regular basis. It wasn't much, but all combined it made it possible to stay in school and to also pay the bills for the house and the food.

I never really told anyone about my situation. I didn't want them to meddle with it; of course it would be great if my dad stopped hitting me every time he got angry, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to tell people. Since whenever he was in one of these rage-moments I always felt a bit of pity for him. He'd lost his wife and all of his sons hated him -well I kind of did at times… though not as bad as my brothers- and everyone in the family left him alone. No one ever offered to help him, and I'm sure that's why he ever even started drinking.

Sometimes, in his very few sober moments, he'd be emotional and tell me he loved me, that he didn't want to hurt me, and he'd be the nicest father you could wish for. It were such moments that kept me from telling people about my situation; deep down I knew there was still the dad I remember from before my mom died. I wanted to get that dad back by helping him myself… It just didn't work out yet…

Right now I was sitting on a bench in the nearest park to my home. I usually stayed here when I was banned from the house again. I could already see the sun rising so I checked my mobile to see the time. _Six twenty-four. _Just a small two hours to go until school started. _I should head home and take a quick shower._

And thus I stood up from the bench and walked onwards to my home, feeling somewhat dazed by the beauty of the sunrise. _Life could be so beautiful, yet my life wasn't._

As I walked home I could feel my ribs being a little painful after the bruises kind of swelled. _I should be okay if I do some self-medication just before I go to school_.

And thus as I finished showering and dressing, I quickly grabbed my schoolbag and put a blanket over my dad's shoulders. He had just fallen asleep on the sofa again. I walked out and figured I probably did have some time left to get myself a sandwich.

As I entered the Subway -not the 'underground' but the sandwich store- I noticed it was rather crowded. But I'd probably be able to make it, and since I didn't really at a lot of diner last night, I decided it was necessary to get myself something to eat. I already was rather skinny compared to the most blokes.

And thus I stood in line, waiting until they asked my what I wanted to order.

It was my turn now. I ordered the usual menu as I always ordered; Ham , cheese, lettuce and a small amount of mayonnaise. I quickly paid the cashier and walked outside in a hurry, I had to catch the bus otherwise I'd be horribly late. And I couldn't afford my good reputation to be ruined.

But just as I looked at my sandwich to make sure the mayonnaise didn't drip out of it, I bumped right into someone.

"Excuse me! I'm sorry, I was in a hurry and…" I looked up at the person who I bumped into. It was a tall, young lad. Blonde hair, a slightly tanned skin, and half-framed glasses. But the most captivating of all were his eyes; they were as the sky on a sunny day.

The lad stared at me for a bit and then started laughing. For a second I was looking at him as if he were retarded, but I soon found more people staring at me. They seemed to stare at my uniform.

I looked down, only to see most of the contents from my sandwich were smattered all of my pullover. _Great, this is going to be the very best day of my life._ –And yes, I meant that in a sarcastic way.

My face turned red as I noticed how ridiculous I must be looking. I looked up at the boy again, and only then I noticed the lad was wearing the same uniform as I was. _So he attends the same school, obviously._

"Ya okay there, buddy?" The bloke asked me, still having an annoying grin on his face and tears from laughter in his eyes. _Bloody wanker!_ _ How dare he laugh at me like that._

Before I noticed the lad had taken out a napkin and now was whipping off most of the mayonnaise, still ginning. _Seems like this guy can't do anything else but grin or laugh._ I noticed with high annoyance.

When I glanced around, even more people were staring at me and the bloke whipping my pullover. The bloke himself didn't seem to notice though.

"H-hands off me, you twat!" I tried to sound offended, but I think it came out more flustered instead…

"Wow easy, lil buddy," He replied somewhat defensive. _So now he insults me for being small!_

"I'm not small! And leave me alone, I have to catch the bus!" I decided it was the best to just change subject and go away as fast as possible, before this situation would become any more embarrassing. _I'll make sure to avoid this place from now on, I'll go by another food shop next time. Bloody embarrassing._

"Ah but, dude, could ya show me the way? It's my first day to my new school, I transferred, see, and well since yer wearing the same uniform I kinda figured ya's go to the same school 'nd stuff,"

I glared at him for a bit, then noticing the bus was almost leaving, I quickly replied.

"Yes, yes that's bloody fine, just hurry up and get in the bus," and with that I turned around to walk towards the bus stop, being just in time to hop on. The lad as well by the way.

"So, he dude, let's start over again or something, I mean that was kinda not a good start and all," The bloke told me, -he really uses the most horrible grammar I've ever heard and for that I glared at him, not sure if he'd get the message, "So, what's yer name?"

I kept glaring at him a little longer and then answered.

"Arthur Kirkland is my name," I replied, kind of static. I shall show the lad some good English manners, hoping he'd adapt it soon.

"Wow that's like King Arthur or something!"

"No it's not, it's just my name. Now I don't want to be rude, but could you please tell me your name in return?" I tried to stay as polite as possible.

"Ah, my name is Alfred F. Jones. I'm from America and stuff and I moved to England with my family 'cause my dad got a nice job here and all,"

I just hummed in return, not really caring too much about his stories, but it'd be rude to just ignore the lad, who I now knew as _Alfred._

"Wow ya Brits are like, really weird people, ya know? Ya have like weird words 'nd stuff, it's kinda confusing,"

-Yes, now I was offended.

"I should say that to you instead! For a fact we use the _original _English grammar and words, while you Americans changed it into something hardly understandable. All your spelling, grammar and words are totally _rubbish_," I huffed, since really, this lad should know his place!

"Wow, awesome," was all I got in reply. _Is this Alfred-guy really as stupid as he looks?_ I wondered. –Though he wasn't exactly stupid looking… Well he just looked stupid the way he kept grinning over everything and such…

It seemed as if he enjoyed his life. Loved his life. He seemed to be the one I've always wanted to be… -Except for the horrible grammar that is.

Also it soon turned out people liked him very much; Even though he was late he didn't get detention –he even talked me out of detention, to which I'm grateful, but I won't tell him. He's already too selfish- and all girls seemed to fancy him as soon as he entered the class to be introduced. –Since, yes, it turned out he was my classmate now.

Also he seemed to have a pretty good brain, even though you would think he had just a nice face and nothing else. Though it turned out I was still the best in class as I corrected his grammar in his notes as I saw them. He was sitting next to me, since the teachers pointed me out to be his 'guardian' for the first week, to make sure he'd get along with people and would get to know the rules. I don't really think he needs my help though.

But his very best subject had to be P.E.

I never joined P.E. class since one, I tried to hide my bruises and scars –I once got my father as far as to write me a letter that said it was 'due health problems'-, and two, P.E. never was a good subject of mine anyways. Alfred however didn't seem to want to miss my company or supportment as he was doing P.E.

He kept begging like a little puppy. Kind of annoying really, but also a bit charming. Yet, I still didn't bother to change into P.E. cloths. Instead I promised him I'd sit at the sidelines, and help out the teacher writing down the people that were absent, or remember the scores when we played small games of football –the stupid git kept calling it soccer and would get confused anytime one of his teammates said 'football'-.

As he played he kept waving at me and whenever he got the chance he tried to convince me to join. He even went as far as to get his teammates to also try and convince me. All of it didn't work of course. It's make the teachers think I'd be able to do sports anyway and then I'd have to do P.E. classes as well.

After the small match that was played at the end of the day –since P.E. was our last subject for today- all boys went to shower. Except for me of course, I didn't need to.

When finished they all went home, giving a small greeting just to be nice, since non of them really was my friend. I didn't mind though, once again I liked living my life alone. Friends could only meddle with personal stuff. And same goes for lovers.

Alfred however was different…

"Say, how 'bout goin' to eat some nice hamburger or somethin'," He asked me, and I only stared at him, showing no emotion, "Like, to make up for yer sandwich this morning! It's my treat!"

I looked at his smile. It seemed he really meant it. _Well nothing wrong with some free nosh. _

And thus I tagged along.

Alfred dragged me to the McDonald's, promising me they had the very best hamburgers _ever._ I didn't really like McDonald's though, so in the end I just stuck with a milkshake in one of the newest flavours. We sat down in a corner, and started talking.

And that was the start of our friendship.

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><p>An:

_Yes new fic. Why? Because I felt like it. And AGAIN Arthur gets hurt. Then again, why? Because I like it if Alfred cares about Arthur and Arthur gets hurt. I'm a sadist, you see. XD_

_And instead of the usual "he/she POV" I now use the "I POV" cuz I felt like it. xD _

_Yes, most of the stuff will get more clear later in the story. Overall I know that I want them to fall in love a bit sooner then in my other fanfics? And I hope people don't get offended and shit by the abuse and alcoholic thingy… if so, I didn't mean to._

_I've finally thought up a small plot for now, but knowing myself, I'll once again just stick with the basic-idea and then go into random mode while writing._

_I'm sure this isn't a very original story, but whatever. I want it to have drama, lots of drama, fluffy moments, but not toooooo much, and yeh whatever, we'll see._

_I don't have a beta-er yet… so tell me if there're mistakes… _

_Lame title is name because I couldn't come up with something nice. Yes I'm that much fail. _

_Overall, I'm kind of content about this chapter? There didn't happen much stuff yet though._

_And yes, again it's in the UK. Because I wanted them to wear school uniforms. 'cause that's hot. (and it's somewhat easier to write for me since I HAVE been to the UK but never to America… yeah whatever I'll do research don't worry)_

_I don't know how regular it'll be updated… HwRT is my main story now, this one and AHTL are just more for the heck of it XD _

_The one-shot I'm writing is still not finished, I'm a bit struck at how fast I should let them love each other. But I think I kind of figured something out. It's got a bit of the same settings as this fic, I can tell you guys, but it's NOT supposed to be a side story of this… whatever XD also it's, just as this story, written in I-POV_

_I hope you enjoyed, reviews will make the release go faster and YAY from today onwards I'll have very little time to upload my stuff and read fanfiction 'cause my parents decided it was necessary to block my internet from 1am onwards. –I'm on fucking bloody holidays, people, why so damn bothersome?-_

_Wohoo goodbye for now then :3_

_Oh and yay I passed my final exams :3 I'm officially graduated form high school, but well, Dutch school system is weird so I am able to add another two years of higher education, and so I did. In the end I'll be stuck here another two years then ;A; well it's best for my future? ;A;_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_(06/20/11)_


	2. Chapter 2

non-beta ver

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><p><strong>It's called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 2

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p><em>Okay guys, so before I start writing I want to tell you all…<em>

_Holy sh-… O_o so many favs/reviews/comments whatever in one day? It beat all my other stuff in no-time O_O I'm stunned. I really am. And I am VERY VERY VERY grateful! Therefore I will try my hardest at this story and will even try to write on when I got to France for 2 weeks from July 4__th__ onwards (omg yay independence day! But DON'T FORGET CANADA DAY! It's the 1__st__ :3)_

_I shall not continue to bother you guys with my talk now, and I will try to remember all the critique and feedback I got on the first chapter, making sure it'll be worth reading!_

_THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT_

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><p>Soon after Alfred transferred he became more and more liked by the people around me. I wasn't that surprised, after all, he was the kind of guy you'd easily get along with.<p>

Still, even though a lot of people wanted to be his friends –best friends even- he always stuck around me. I think it was because he knew me the longest of them all.

At home nothing had changed. I sometimes wrote small letters to my brothers so they wouldn't worry, but I don't think they actually paid it much mind.

Right now it's been around two weeks since Alfred transferred. He added another, different, view of life for me. His happiness showed me there was still hope, I could say. I probably sound all philosophic here but at least that's what I felt. We both ate lunch together in the breaks –if he wasn't playing football, he kept calling it soccer, with his other friends, leaving me to sit at the sidelines.

He often enjoyed hanging around me when I tried to study, which was much to my annoyance.

Though after a few series of arguments, mostly I started them because the twat was outright annoying the heck out of me, we came to an agreement; I had told him about how I did want to play football, since I do quite enjoy it sometimes, but I had to keep up my act and all about not being able to play it. In return he told me that he had a few problems with some of his subjects. And thus we decided I should help him with his studies, and in return Alfred would teach me playing football.

And if he wasn't being a selfish show-off saying 'I'm the hero', he was actually quite nice to talk to.

Most people only knew his fun side, the side of his personality he showed when he was talking with them in class and playing football with them, but for some reason he decided I was nice enough to show his serious side to.

It seemed he enjoyed having fun more, but he did help me out a few times when I really needed it.

He often took me out to a drink, or eat a hamburger by the McDonald's. He really liked that crap, no one could miss it. Also he started to wear some old bomber jacket as the wind grew stronger and the autumn started, since over the last two weeks the weather changed pretty drastically.

Right now I was waiting for him to show up so I would be able to show him some of my notes i had to share with him –he'd fallen asleep in the middle of the class that time, the teacher was too oblivious to notice.

Today it was also somewhat rainy, as to be expected in the UK, and thus I wore a warm jacked and a nice scarf. Today was a Saturday so I didn't have to wear my uniform, so instead of the usual plaid trousers, I now wore a pair of rather ordinary jeans and a dress shirt with a pullover. Normally I'd preferred wearing khakis but jeans were a bit better in this weather.

I was a bit dazed, just staring at the street in front of me as the rain fell down, until I suddenly heard someone yell my name from my right.

"Artie!" –Well, it wasn't my real name, and I couldn't say I was pleased by being called like that, but at least I knew who it was. I also recognised the voice anyways.

"Don't call me like that, you know I dislike it," I told with a glare to the boy that was now jogging towards me, grinning happily while holding an umbrella above his head. I couldn't stay angry at him for long.

"You brought the books I asked you about?" I asked him, he had asked me to explain him some of his chemistry homework.

"Yeah yeah, of course I did. Too bad it's rainy 'nd stuff, otherwise we could've played some soccer,"

"You're in the UK now, you'd rather call it 'football',"

"Nah I don't care 'bout that, people here understand me anyways, so whatever," He stated, oblivious as ever. I did kind of liked that part about him though. It seemed like we were total opposites; at the moments where I'd shut my mouth, he'd talk. At the moments where I'd act modest, he tend to act even more happy and hyper the usual. But for some reason it seemed we got along rather well.

"Ya didn't bring an umbrella, did ya?" Alfred asked me, as I already started to walk away towards the library.

"No, I didn't expect it to rain. I'll be fine though, I'm used to this weather,"

"Hhm, I don't mind sharin' my umbrella with ya?"

"Well…" I hesitated for a bit, not sure if we'd both fit under one umbrella without people starting to stare at us. I disliked drawing too much unwanted attention, "Hm, okay then," I eventually agreed. Since, what could be wrong with sharing an umbrella?

And thus I now walked at the street with Alfred besides me, both sharing an umbrella. I kind of enjoyed the walk; Alfred talked a bit about his life in America and about his friends there and even a brother that seemed to have stayed behind on the other side of the world, but moved to a school in Canada.

I didn't talk too much though; I didn't even have anything to say. All I wanted to tell about myself I had already told the first time we met. It's hard to describe, but it felt kind of okay to share some information with him.

I was always avoiding the subject 'home' though, and whenever he asked me about if he was allowed to come over, I would give him some kind of excuse. He didn't really seem to believe me, the longer I did so, but he also didn't ask any questions.

We arrived at the library now, and I was kind of glad he shared his umbrella with me since it'd started to rain worse.

"They said there's gonna be a storm tonight with thunder and all," Alfred told me as he looked up at the sky, "Let's make sure we're home before it starts, it's annoying to have to run 'nd stuff,"

"Use proper language, Alfred! 'Gonna' is _not _a word," I always cared about grammar, and he shouldn't think he could get away with it just because he's my (first) best friend.

"Yeah, whatever," He was already distracted by a shelf of books.

"Do you like reading? And what kind of books do you-.. oh never mind," I asked him, but as soon as I saw that the shelves he was looking at weren't books but comics, I didn't ask anymore. I should've know.

"Whoah but Iggy, they got like this super old comics here! I've always wanna read these classics 'nd all,"

_Iggy? What kind of stupid name did he com up with this time._

"Don't call me such a ridiculous name, even the other names you gave me before this were better," I said, but then remembered that _one time_, "Well, except for 'eyebrows'," I quickly added.

"May I borrow yer library pass?" He now asked at me with huge puppy eyes. I don't like to admit it, but they did work on me if they were used long enough.

"Why should you? You should have one on your own by now, I even stood next to you when you got one,"

"Yeah but I kinda forgot mine, 'nd stuff, I didn't really think of borrowin' books, ya see?"

"Alright then, you can borrow my library pass, but make sure you return the books, comics, whatever, when they have to be returned! I don't want to have a bad record here, I like borrowing books," See, I already gave up trying not to fall for those eyes, there was no way _my _stubbornness could win it from them.

"Yay, Iggy, you're awesome!" he said as he snatched the pass out of my hands and ran off to the counter, forgetting about how he had to be silent. He received a few glares, and so did I, from angry people that were disturbed during reading, but he didn't seem to notice. Which was to be expected, seeing as how oblivious the lad was.

While Alfred was borrowing his comics I settled down at one of the tables in the corners and grabbed all items we'd need, such as pencils, a rubber, my notes and the chemistry book. We didn't seem to need any more for now.

I stared at the notepapers and noticed there were still some empty ones. I glanced back at the counter, where Alfred was still waiting, impatiently, in the line. Then is stared back at the blank notepapers and grabbed a pencil.

I started to draw whatever came up in my mind, which turned out to be a small, mint coloured bunny with wings. It was one of my favourite 'friends' ever since I was a kid.

I started sketching out the base lines and soon you could see the lines become into a bunny. I was rather content with how it was going.

I've always liked drawing, but I never really had the opportunity to show it or something. As a kid I used to draw unicorns and fairies, since I'd see them every day when I walked around at the street, but I kind of figured it wasn't very manly to do so, and thus I quit drawing those.

Well I did draw them, but only when I was on my own.

Drawing always made me feel happy. It made me feel useful and talented, as if, within all the bad parts of my life, there was still a small thing I was good at.

I was kind of focussed on my drawing and thus I jumped up a bit as Alfred suddenly popped up from behind me.

"Wow, dude, did ya draw that? That's so awesome! I wanna see more, can ya draw me a superhero or something?"

"Whoah!" was my first response, due to the shock, "W-well I can try? But only if you promise you'll fix your grammar mistakes in you homework yourself next time and you will do your best when I tutor you!" I demanded, though I was not sure if it'd work out; I wasn't used to draw superheroes and the like and also, it would probably never happen that Alfred was going to talk proper english.

"Yeah whatever, I'll see what I can do… And wow, wait, I got a better idea; draw me being a superhero and ya bein' my sidekick!" the other boy kept fantasising.

I just hummed in return as I started to draw the outer lines and Alfred sat down at the chair besides me. I didn't really feel like drawing myself as his sidekick, so I'd just draw myself the way I looked right now.

Alfred stared at the sketch as It began to evolve into a full picture, but then was distracted as he saw a bruise on my right hand. I think it was the bruise I got last time I tried to open the door, but my dad closed it and my hand got squished in between the door and the doorframe.

"Wow, dude, how the hell did ya get that bruise, man?" He asked, grabbing at my hand, but I pulled it away.

"N-nothing, just my clumsiness. I got my hand in-between the door and the doorframe, my own fault, it's okay," I tried to work my way out of it, but his pout made me notice he didn't believe me.

"You shouldn't act that panicked if it was just a bruise,"

Damn, that guy had already figured me out in two weeks! I should stop talking about myself to him, he'd be able to figure me out even more then. _He isn't as stupid as he looks after all…_

I quickly continued drawing pretending it didn't happen. Alfred also went back to focussing on seeing me draw, but still he kept an eye on my bruise. _He could be so persistent…_

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><p><em>Author's note/_

_Yes, life sucks, I had this chapter finished just when my internet got cut off (the new rule from my parents to shut my computer down at 1am, they don't understand what it is to have people around the world to talk to)_

_And omg I received so many favs and reviews I'm sure my face now only said "O_O" xD and that's why this chapter is here so soon :D_

_I feel a bit disappointed about not being able to upload it the same day I finished it, also since that'd give me a record of 2 chapters a day, but well, blame my parents xD_

_Oh and uuhm yeah I already told you guys about my holiday to France, right, so I don't know how the updates of any of my stories will be those times. I figured out I'd just upload the full documents of my stories to and then edit them whenever I have the time… I'll have to bee sneaky though, since it'll be on my parent's laptop… XD well at least I've got internet XD_

_So yeah uhm this chapter was written, once again, randomly, so sorry for the sudden stuff? Well as I told you guys I wanted them to fall in love sooner then in my other stories, so I decided the storyline should have a bit of a speedup too. I don't know how long this story will be, I don't know what will happen, I'll just write. _

_Once again, thanks for ALL your favs, reviews, comments etc, its very much appreciated, so much even I cant stop thanking you guys, and I hope you can accept this not-too-awesome chapter that I finished within 24 hours after the first one as a gift._

_Please follow it to the end, and HAVE FUN READING :D_

_Byee 3_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_(06/21/11)_


	3. Chapter 3

non-beta

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><p><strong>It's called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 3

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>The rest of the day studying went rather peaceful. Alfred seemed to be really impressed by my drawings, even though I think they didn't really look as good as he told me, but still it made me a little happy to see someone impressed about something I made for once. This didn't happen often.<p>

We stayed at the library until it closed and afterwards we wandered around on the street for a bit, Alfred still giving small glances to my bruised hand every now and then.

"Artie, I wanna come over to yer place!" Alfred said excitedly. Unfortunately for him, I never let someone get near my home. I didn't like it if people got ideas about what was going on in the household. It's none of their business.

"No," I replied shortly, not caring about explaining; It'd cause me even more trouble.

"Aw, but why, Artie? We're friends!" The other guy now pouted. _Damn git…_

"Just because I don't want to. But we could eat something before going back home?"

"Yes! Okay, sounds awesome, I wanna eat at this awesome, cheap restaurant down the road!"

"Could you be more specific? There's multiple restaurants down there,"

"I dunno, I only recognize when I see it,"

Seemed Alfred was as random and oblivious as ever, but I still decided to tag along. If it was about food, the boy seemed to know everything.

The rain was still pouring, and several more dark clouds were on their way to may even cause a thunderstorm. I'd not like to have to walk around outside tonight, so I'd better eat now and then lock myself up in my room when I arrive at home. It's the best thing I can do.

Eventually, while both hiding under the umbrella Alfred brought, we arrived at the restaurant the lad told me about.

It was a lovely place. It was nicely decorated, rather antique-looking compared to most restaurants these days, but it fitted my taste quite well. Overall the colours differed from between red-pink to brown. It didn't look girly though, it just looked nice and cosy.

Alfred let me decide where to sit. I've always liked looking around at all people passing and shopping, so we ended up at the seat closest to the window. Once we settled down it didn't take long before a friendly looking woman gave us a small menu. The woman smiled at us, and her brown, wavy hair made her look even more happy. She seemed to be rather happy to have us eating at this place.

"You want to order something to drink for now?" She asked politely, still having a nice smile on her face.

"Hm, a cup of tea please," I replied, since I'm sure nothing can beat the nice taste of tea, even if it's near dinnertime.

"What flavour, sir?"

"Twinning's Lady Gray, please, if possible,"

That's one of my favourite flavours. It's like Earl Gray, but a bit less strong and a small hint of some tropical fruit. Just perfect for the late noon-early evening.

"Yes, sure that's possible, so what does your friend want to order?" She asked Alfred as she wrote down my order.

"Uhm, I wanna have a coke, please!" He beamed, again smiling. His face always lightened up when he was talking about food, it seems._ A bit weird, but it suits him…_

"Sure! Your drinks will be here soon," And she walked off.

Both Alfred and I picked up our menu's to take a look at what to order. Alfred was right when he said this restaurant was cheap; instead of the usual over-priced restaurants I used to come across, these were very reasonable prices.

"So, what'd ya wanna eat?" Alfred suddenly asked me. I was a bit shocked since I was completely occupied by my own thoughts about the restaurant.

"I think I'll go with the… uuhm…" I looked at the menu again, since I forgot what it was called, "Uhm, wait, these dishes just have country-related names? How the hell am I supposed to know what I want?" I noticed. I must say it was a quite nice idea, but I'm not really good at knowing what food is from what country, it's never really interested me…

"Well, just chose the American one! There's no doubt it's the most delicious one!"

It was then that the woman with the flower in her hair arrived again, holding a tray with soda and a nice, steaming cup of water-the teabag still needed to be put in of course.

"Haha, well it's okay if you don't know what food is from which country! Let me tell you," She started while putting our drinks on the table, "The country names refer to the most popular and well-known dishes from that country, which is obvious I guess?"

Both Alfred and I nodded in return.

"Thus the American dishes include fries-,"

"Chips," I quietly corrected her, though she didn't hear and just continued talking;

"-sauce, and of course a hamburger," she summed up and Alfred's smile got even wider as he heard the word 'hamburger'.

"So, what's for the English dish?"

"Fish and chips, of course!" the woman said, and I figured it was to be expected, "And, let's see, for Italian we've got pasta or pizza, for German potatoes and _wurst_, for Japanese sushi, and so on… Today's specialities is Dutch traditional food, though!"

"So, what's in the Dutch dish then?" I asked, rather curious. I remembered some Dutch guy from my class, and well… he was quite tall, I've always wondered what he ate to become that tall… I think it wouldn't mind if I were a few inches longer…

"It's called '_boerenkool met worst' _in Dutch_, _which is literally translated as 'farmer's lettuce with sausage' though, well, that doesn't make any sense," the woman informed us, "It's the so called 'boerenkool', which is a type of lettuce, mixed with squashed potato, small pieces of bacon and dish-gravy mixed together, and a piece of 'rookworst' on top. 'Rookworst' is a sausage that hang in the smoke of a fire, it's got some very strong taste," She explained on, "It's mostly eaten at cold winter days," she finished off her story. I kind of lost it half way, but it seemed to be a nice and stomach-filling dish, so I ordered. _And also because it was the cheapest, since it's the meal-of-the-day…_

A little time passed and by the time our food arrived we were both kind of hungry. The steaming plates looked even more delicious then we could've imagined and without too much formalities we just dug in.

The so called 'boerenkool' I ate was kind of a weird dish, but I figured it tasted nice enough. The most delicious was the sausage, though.

Alfred also seemed to enjoy his meal. But then again, when did he not?

We both finished our plates and were grateful for the nice food. The waitress now came to pick up our plates as she asked "You boys want a dessert?"

Both of us nodded happily. After all, who could resist the nice-looking pictures of the desserts on the menu. I chose the French dessert, which meant I got myself some 'Dame Blanche'. Alfred just went along with me and ordered the same, assuring me 'he'd always wanted to try a true French dessert,' though I thought it was rather ordinary.

We, once again, finished eating soon, stating it really was delicious. When our stomachs were filled we received the bill, which was rather payable, even for me. We paid the bill and were ready to leave the restaurant until the woman who was our waitress for today started talking us again

"Please come again soon, you boys are so nice!" she told us, "My name is Elisabeta, don't hesitate to drop by once in a while!"

"Thank you, miss," I said politely, "We'll be sure to return, the food was delicious and the service sure was nice,"

"Aw, see, I told you boys were sweethearts! See you around!"

"Sure, m'am," Alfred beamed here a smile, and we walked out of the story, again using the umbrella to stay dry. We waved until we were around the corner that was a little further down the street, and we walked on, non of us really knowing where to go.

There were cars rushing on the road, trying to be home soon, since it was already past rush-hour. We arrived at a traffic light, and when I saw the green light, I started to walk.

What I didn't see was a car that was driving on, blinded by the rain. By the time I heard it, it was already too late. _So… this is how I die, after a long life of unhappiness and when I finally found a friend…_I thought to myself.

But I was surprised when I felt someone grab my jacket and pull me back to the pavement, holding me close.

It all happened so slowly, but once the car had passed I started to come back to reality and could hear Alfred's voice from above my head. He sounded rather angry for his usual cheerfulness.

"Don't ever do that, Iggy! It's dangerous! Ya wanna die, or somethin'? Dude that was scary, yer lucky with havin' a hero as a friend!"

I could feel how his arms were still wrapped around me, holding me rather tight around my ribs. It didn't feel too pleasant, since he touched the exact same spot as where my father kicked my ribs last time. I still wasn't sure if it was a bad injury –after all I didn't want to go to the hospital for a check-up in case they'd suspect anything- but I can say it hurt quite a lot.

I'd bandaged it, and tried not to move it too much, but with the lad's arm holding so tight onto me, I couldn't help but grasp for air by the pain it caused me.

"Seriously, dude, ya shocke-… Are ya okay?" he finally noticed my pain.

"J-…just let go… of me!" I said in between my grasping. He quickly released me and I bent forward, grabbed my ribs and tried to get myself together.

"Wow, dude, what's wrong? You okay? Did the car hit ya or anythin'?"

"No I'm fine, just some minor injury I already had," I replied, still holding my ribs, trying to ease the pain sooner as it slowly started to fade away.

"It's not some minor injury if yer havin' this much pain! I'm not stupid,"

"It's fine, just let me rest a little and I'll be fine," the usual stubbornness I had returned.

Alfred stopped talking and let me rest, knowing he couldn't do anything else since I was being stubborn, and only looked at me with worried, blue eyes.

He'd dropped his umbrella, he noticed, and quickly grabbed it off the ground again, though by the time he put it above our heads again, we were already soaked.

"I'm fine now," I told him as I barely felt any more pain in my ribs.

"Should I walk ya home?"

I gazed at the boy, not sure if he was serious… Unfortunately, he was.

"I'm not some damned damsel in distress!" I told him off. He might claim himself being a hero, but I can take care of myself just fine!

"It's okay, just askin'," Alfred murmured in return. He looked at me a bit longer, probably to make sure I really was all right, but I pretended I didn't notice. I shouldn't make him too suspicious of having injuries, whether minor or important, since if he'd notice it too often, he might start meddling in my business, and I don't want that.

It's not that I don't trust him, not at all. Actually I trust him more then I trust most people, and even I don't know why. But still, no matter how good of a friend he was, I still wanted to help my dad by my own power.

We continued walking on, now more cautious of the traffic, and soon we arrived at the place where we usually parted. We stood still for a bit, trying to stay under the umbrella as long as possible, even though we were already soaked.

We could hear thunder in the distance, which meant it will become a thunderstorm here soon as well, but we didn't worry yet.

At the moment we were just enjoying the smell and feeling it gave when it rained. For some reason this always seemed to make me happy, no matter how sad most people thought it was. I just enjoyed the smell of everything being wet by the rain and the sound of thunder that became louder and louder as the time passed. It was as if the world stood still, as if nobody but Alfred and I were here, enjoying the view, smelling the rain, _feeling each other's presence. _

But, even though I felt like this moment could stay forever and I still wouldn't ever be bored, Alfred started to talk.

"It's goin' to be a storm tonight, we better hurry up 'nd go home,"

I must say I agreed with him, but for some reason my gaze didn't waver as I kept staring at how the rain fell onto the ground. I didn't want this moment to end, I didn't want to leave Alfred's side, I didn't want to go back to the house where my dad was now being angry about how I came home late and didn't make him any meal. I was sure he'd beat me again.

"Artie?" Alfred asked, turning so he now faced me, "Ya like the rain, don't ya?" he asked, smiling.

"Sure I do, you don't?" I was glad I could make this moment last a little longer.

"Hm, I prefer the sun. But rain is nice… It suits ya,"

"Why would it suit me?"

"Yer grumpiness," he joked and I gave him a glare. I couldn't stay mad at him for long though as he continued, "And the nice, peaceful feelin' once it's over. It's like ya,"

"I still don't see why I'm like that," I continued, not sure if it was my stubbornness that didn't want to admit or if I really didn't understood the lad that was now staring at me with his sky-blue eyes, that reminded me of the clear sky, with no rain at all. _The happy sky…_

"Well, at first it looks all grumpy 'nd mean, but when ya wait long enough, the sky will open up, 'nd will show ya a refreshed, nice world, filled with energy," he explained.

I gazed back in his eyes, which were hidden behind frames that made him look even more handsome then without them. It was as if this guy could see right through the wall I built around myself to protect myself from any harm. This guy, with his clear eyes, seemed to also clear up _my _sky, the rainy sky that then turned into the _refreshed_ and _nice _one.

I could feel my heart raging in my chest and my cheeks started to become warmer. The moment seemed to take minutes, hours and maybe even _days_. Or so it felt.

I soon was pulled back to reality as Alfred started brushing through my hair with his free hand and continued talking to me.

"Take the umbrella, ya'll need it. See ya Monday," he smiled at me, again, and started walking off, waving back to me, "Don't forget, I'm yer hero!" he said and soon started jogging, to be home quicker.

_Yes, maybe the guy really is a true hero, making me forget about the sad world, creating a happy world filled with…Him…_

Or that's what I though as I continued to walk home, holding the umbrella above my head and preparing for the beating I'd get when I got home, if my dad would still be awake…

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Yes, this took a long time. The start, I had in mind, the first few paragraphs, though in the end I wrote it differently. Also the ending was written randomly. I don't know how I got the idea, I just did. :S all of I went that way_

_The Dutch dish… Yeah well, I've gotta boast a BIT about my country, right? XD (also I felt like " do not want to have Arthur eat fish and chips, that'd be cliché") And it's one of my favourite types of food, together with pasta xD yeah you should try it…. Oh gawd I feel like telling you about even more Dutch food XD_

_And the " Twinning's lady gray" tea…. Dude I drink it every morning XD except that's it's package is empty now :/ it really is nice 3_

_Of course the waitress was Hungary_

_Next time Arthur might actually start eating his national food, yes, I don't know, I was just being stubborn . sorry!_

_Long chapter is long because I felt like it? And be lucky, since I'll be going away, ofc, for about 10dyas to 2 weeks, it can differ a bit._

_Tomorrow I'll try uploading HwRT chapter 16, hjdbgfhdbhj busy times XD_

_Over all, this chapter took long because life prevented me from writing. Sorry._

_I don't have anything to say, and please don't be mad at me, this chapter sure was a fail :/ but I don't know how to make it better and jgbhfbhj I wanted it to be up before I went to France! _

_Byee 3_

_Oh and happy independence day!_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_Also I do not own Twinning's or any other brands I might have used while writing. Those also belong to the rightful owners!_

_(04/07/11)_


	4. Chapter 4

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 4

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>By the time I got home, my dad was still awake, but lucky for me, he was too dunk to even stand. I just quickly made it to my room in order to keep him from noticing me, at which I somewhat succeeded. Well, except for him yelling at me, insulting me and calling me names, only to release his anger. But that is the usual<em>.<em>

Right now I was sitting in my room, making sure not to make too much noise as I grabbed my headphones and a towel after I changed into more comfortable cloths. And dry ones.

I turned on my music, trying to shut myself away from the world around me. I always did so if I had to think for a bit, getting my thoughts ordered again. It would usually work pretty well, but today...

My mind kept wandering off to what Alfred had said. How could he have figured me out so soon, even though I didn't want to admit he was right. He seemed to be the only one able to break through my wall, and that's what makes him dangerous.

If he ever were to find out about my home-life, I'm sure he'd try doing something ridiculous, what he called 'heroic', to try and get me away from this life. No matter what I wanted. That's just the kind of guy he is; caring, yes, but also very impulsive and oblivious to other people.

I still like that about him though. I'd have never expected myself to get along with someone like him, but in the end it seemed he was one of my best friends. Maybe because I barely had any friends, but still, I felt safe with him, even though I shouldn't be.

I never really trusted people, even my own brothers, and therefore I was a bit scared of myself trusting someone this easily, but I couldn't keep myself form thinking of Alfred as a nice guy.

_Very nice._

For some reason he kept lingering around in my head, always present, always there ready to pop up in my imagination when I had nothing else to do. And even if I did have something else to do.

I felt a small headache coming up after all the thinking and the busy day –teaching Alfred wasn't the easiest to do since the boy had such a shot attention span- and therefore I decided I'd better get some shut-eye.

Without even bothering to take of my headphones, I let myself fall backwards, dropping my head on my pillow. Without too much effort I could feel the sleepiness taking effect on me and soon my mind was wandering off to some far-away dreamland.

* * *

>I woke up covered in cold sweat. I'd been dreaming quite peacefully, until I suddenly got a nightmare. I couldn't really remember what it was about, but I was pretty sure I wasn't able to fall asleep again tonight.<p><p>

I looked at my clock, only to notice it was four in the morning. I'd barely slept for three hours.

I usually didn't sleep too well, but today was worse.

Suddenly I heard a sound of something falling and breaking on the floor downstairs, and I could tell it sounded very much like glass.

_It couldn't be dad, could it?_

My father usually wouldn't be awake at this hour, still sleeping from the alcohol, but maybe this night was different. He'd fallen asleep very early today, compared to an average time, so it wouldn't surprise me if he'd also wake up earlier then.

Deciding I'd better take a look before he'd hurt himself, I stumbled out of bed, downstairs and into the living room.

When I opened the door I could see three man standing in the middle of the room, wearing black clothes and a mast that covered the upper half of they face while they were surrounding a rather lifeless body on the ground. It seemed like the body on the ground belonged to my dad, and the sound of something falling had probably come from the big lamp that usually stood asides the sofa.

The three men were unknown for me.

I tried to make no sound as I stood there, watching at the scene in front of me, but I'd already failed as soon as I walked down the stairs.

As the three men heard a door open they all looked around, facing me.

They seemed to have some 'weapons' with them, such as pocketknives and a small plank of wood. They smiled at me with an evil grin.

I kept staring at them for a bit before one of the men, probably the leader, slowly walked towards me and started talking.

"Seems like your dad drank himself to a land of dreams, boy," he said, still grinning, "So, since he won't be able to receive our message like this, even when we tried to wake him up, we better leave the message to you,"

My mind started working by now. So these guys had a message for my father, right? This could become tricky…

"Well, boy, you see, your father is in dept with us. He'd promised us he'd pay us back by today, but he failed. We're nice, so we give him a little more time, but that will also mean it'll cost a little more,"

I stared at him, only after a few seconds whispering to him, "How much?". I decided I'd better keep this conversation as clear as possible, and get them out of the house as soon as possible.

"The usual," the man continued, "Ten thousand, English pound, buy the end of the month,"

I stared at him as if he were mad. _Ten thousand? _I'd never be able to get that amount together! What had my father even done to be in dept with them so bad? Were it drugs? It'd be really bad if it were, since then he –and therefore I- were in deep trouble.

"Next month, okay?" the guy said as a reminder, still grinning.

I nodded very little, it was barely noticeable, but it seemed like the man understood as he now walked off and gave a quick nod to his companions and as fast and silent as they came in, they also left, leaving me standing for a little more while thinking it all through.

This meant trouble, _big trouble. _

I was sure I wouldn't _ever _be able to make it by the end of the month, not even if I asked all my bothers and saved up as much as possible. And I couldn't let anyone notice either, I just _couldn't. _Not after all the effort I'd put into keeping it all a secret and working this out by myself.

If I could work all other things out by myself, this could work too, it _had _to.

I quickly remembered my dad as I saw him lying on the ground, motionless.

I walked towards him and turned him around, only to see he got a still-not-fully-swollen bruise on his cheek. Asides from that he seemed fine and he'd probably slept through all of it. _Damn alcohol._

I put him back on the sofa with a bit of effort and then started to clean up the shattered lamp, still thinking of all kinds of things as thoughts were flashing through my mind.

_This can't be real right? This only happens in films, right? Really dad, what did you get us into this time…_

The rest of the night was restless for me, I kept thinking about solutions, but in the end, when the sun had already risen fully, I still didn't have a plan.

By now my dad started to wake up, and since I'd already taken a shower and ate my breakfast, I decided it was better for me to go out for a bit and walk around. I better don't tell him, he'd only be more worries and might even beat the shit out of me.

As I walked out of the door, my messenger bag packed with some books I borrowed from the library, a sketchbook with pencils and some food for the rest of the day, I once again thought of Alfred.

I don't know why but it felt like I wanted to see him, really bad.

I wasn't planning on telling him anything, no I better keep him from knowing this all, but for some reason his presence always made me think more positive.

But then again, how can I be sure that I keep my mouth shut? More then once I already had been telling him things I'd normally not tell people, and I had to most _definitely _keep him out of this.

It was bad enough it all happened to me, and it was pretty dangerous I could tell, but there was no reason for the oblivious git to get involved with it all.

Even without me doubting myself, I still wandered off towards the boy's house. I couldn't help it, it just happened.

I never really have been to the boy's house before, but he told me where he lived, and I remembered.

After a walk from about half an hour –yes the city was big and we lived pretty far away from each other- I stopped by a house with a nice-looking, baby-blue door and cream-coloured wooden panels on the side. The house seemed really peaceful and bright, as if nothing bad could ever happen around here.

I looked at it with amazement for a while, until I heard someone call my name.

"Hey, Artie!" I could hear form above my head. I looked up only to see bright blue eyes look at me from one of the windows.

_It was Alfred, and he immediately made me feel happier…  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Soooooooooo this was written ON HOLIDAY people (maybe that's why it's a small chapter?) XD though I didn't force myself, I was just feeling like it._

_Wohoooooo omg poor Artie is in trouble! Lol I don't know where I got the idea from but it just wrote itself xD _

_Aww but he chose the his hero to kinda save him… only if he wont be so stubborn and just tell him already XD_

_But I still have too much fun having Artie being stubborn…_

_Soooooo you guys mind if there's parts written where Artie gets beaten up pretty bad? Since I can understand if some of you guys don't want to read it, but well, it's partly what fits witht eh plotline, right? But tell me if you like or dislike, since I can also just include it but put a warning up from where the part starts and then also where it ends, so you guys can skip it easily? Tell me :P_

_And omg I got some awesome idea im not gonna spoil you guys! XD hahah so mean_

_Okay so uuhm I don't know if I am gonna upload other chapters within this holiday, or even other fanfictions and all, so whatever, but just watch your inbox xD _

_So far I'm enjoying my holiday, and I've been visiting a lot of nice places. I'm really lucky to be here :D_

_Have a nice day, and really people, reviews are like tea. I LOVE THEM FOREVER._

_Byeeee 3_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_(07/09/11)_


	5. Chapter 5

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 5

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>I looked up only to see the usual bright smile and shimmering, sky-blue eyes looking down on me.<p>

"Yo, Iggy! Stay there, I'll open the door for ya!" Alfred beamed at me with his usual happiness. He immediately cheered me up as well. I stood there for a bit until I saw the baby-blue door open and Alfred gesturing me inside.

As I walked through the doorway I noticed how nice and comfortable the house looked. It looked very much like how you would expect an American country house to look like, and it fitted with Alfred perfectly.

"Yo, what a surprise!" the American boy began to talk, "Too bad my mom's not here and all, she's out shopping. I told her 'bout ya and she said she'd love to meet ya, so ya better prepare for a lot of talkin', she wanna know all 'bout ya!"

I just nodded at the boy as I started to put down my bag near the peg that was standing aside from the front door.

"But why are ya here anyways?" Alfred now asked me, sounding a bit suspicious.

"Uhm," I didn't really know what to say, "I, uhm, wanted to bring back your umbrella," That's right, I still had his umbrella. It seemed to be one of those that you can make really small if you fold them in, so after it dried I put it in my bad to take it with me to school on Monday. But in the end I saw the boy even before Monday.

"Why not just wait 'till Monday?" he was still sounding suspicious. I was kind of glad he wasn't good at reading other people's emotions, since right now I felt kind of speechless. I could've easily waited for Monday, but I just couldn't think of anything else to say…

"Well, whatever, doesn't matter, dude. Wanna play my newest game?" he asked me. I was pretty sure it would be, once again, one of these Japanese games he got from Kiku, a Japanese kid in our class. They seemed to get along pretty well and all, especially when talking about games.

"Hm, sure," I said, not really feeling like arguing a lot today. I didn't really like these games but at least they would keep me away from facing the reality.

_Ten thousand…_

No matter how hard I tried I could help but feel kind of panicked about where to get that money from. There wasn't anything I could come up with but these guys did look dangerous, and I was sure they would do something bad o either my dad or me if I didn't get it by the end of the month.

"Wow, earth to Artie," Alfred said as he suddenly waved his hand in front of my eyes. I'd probably been spacing off for the last few seconds.

"Yer really out of it, may just wanna play some soccer?" the boy now sounded concerned.

"It's football, you git," I was surprised I could still sound a bit like my usual self, "And, yes it might be fun to play a bit." I answered. It's be better then these videogames anyway, and today I didn't feel too sore. It was nice to have no new bruises and wounds for a day.

Alfred grabbed a ball that was lying near the door and walked out, waiting for me to follow, which I did.

We walked a bit towards the nearby park, and then decided we would play on the football field there. The grass was still wet, but our shoes would be able to hold back most of the mud anyway.

We started kicking the ball towards each other and back, and then decided to do a small match. Alfred pretended he didn't play it too well to give me a bit of confidence, that was very obvious, but still I couldn't blame the lad. He meant it in a good way.

That was until he accidentally kicked it my way but was too eager, and thus the ball was shot in the air and now started to drop back down.

"I'll get it!" I shouted over to him.

I was determent to catch it and kick it back, show him that I wasn't as week as he though, but as I ran towards where the ball was planning to land, I could feel my feet slip on the wet grass and started to fall down. It were a few seconds though it looked like ages as I slowly saw the world turn upside down and I could feel the mud starting to wet and dirty my cloths.

_This can't be happening!_

I could feel the same ribs as yesterday hurting as I lie on the grass for a bit, trying to get myself together.

My body hurt, since I seemed to have fallen exactly on several of my most sore spots, but eventually I decided to pull myself up and pretend there was nothing going on. _Just pretend there's nothing wrong, for yours and Alfred's sake!_

"Wow, ya aright? Yer kinda clumsy, you know that?" I could hear a voice say from behind me. Alfred seemed to have caught up with me in the time I was still lying on the grass.

"I'm quite alright, yes," I told him, trying to get the dirt off me, but unfortunately it was all mud and it continued to soak into my cloths. My whole back was full of mud, and so were my trousers. My hair had a bit of mud in it but that was almost nothing compared to most other parts of my body and cloths.

"Wow, yer all mudly 'nd all,"

"'Mudly' is no English, git!"

"Doesn't matter, ya better come with me, I can lend ya some of my cloths for the time being. I'm sure my mom would be okay with washing your stuff." he told me, grabbing onto my arm and dragging me along. He only stopped for a bit to collect the football and then continued to walk off, only releasing my arm as we were already half way towards his house.

As we got back at the baby-blue door of his house, I could see there was now a dark-green coloured car parked in front of the pavement. Alfred didn't seem to bother and just continued to walk up to the door, and opened it.

"I'm home!" Alfred yelled as he entered the house and soon a woman entered the hallway.

She had nice, sparkling eyes, just like Alfred, only the colour was different. This was rather visible since she wore no glasses or the like. She seemed to have a more lighter and purple colour. Her hair, though, had the same dark-blond colour to it, but it didn't have the same weird cowlick as Alfred has. Probably since her hair was rather long and wavy, even though it was tied back in a messy ponytail that fit her just right.

She was a bit chubby but looked just like the kind of mum everyone would want to have.

"Look, mom, this is Arthur!" Alfred told her, "And Artie, this is my mom!" he now introduced us. I was surprised to see him having _some _type of manners.

"Hello! Such a pleasure to meet you, my dear," Alfred's mum welcomed me warmly. She really seemed to be a nice mum just like her appearance would suggest. She made me think a bit of my own mum, from what I can remember of her.

"Alfred's told so much 'bout you, I really wanna talk to you about you Britons, you're such weird yet fascinating people!"

I wasn't sure if I should feel honoured or insulted to be called 'weird yet fascinating' but guessing from her happy voice it was meant to be a compliment.

"Yeah, sure mom, but Artie and I just came back from the park 'nd he kinda fell and now he's all mudly, so mind if he changes first?" Alfred butted in, ready to walk upstairs.

"Oh my, yes now you say so! Sure, go ahead, I'll get you two something to drink," she said, "Anything, you'd like, dear?" she asked me.

"Tea, please," I told her. I could really use some nice, warm tea.

"I wanna have a coke!" Alfred said, already halfway on the stairs. His mum just nodded and walked off towards the kitchen, while I started to follow Alfred upstairs.

He entered one of the first doors and gestured me to follow him. As I walked it it became clear this had to be his room. It was filled with the usual superhero posters and US flags. Also there were several games and cloths lying all around on the floor and his bed was not made. Still it made me feel at ease and it _definitely _fitted Alfred.

While I stood there gazing towards all stuff around me, Alfred had now walked towards his closet to grab some cloths for me. He turned around and gave me a pair of sweatpants, over-sized t-shirt and a towel. I put down the items for a bit and lied down some of my important possessions, such as mobile phone and wallet, on a the desk I was standing aside, and grabbed the towel to dry of my hair. But before I could start actually drying off, Alfred began to talk.

"Ya can take a shower if ya want to," he said, "Just walk down the hall, last door on the left,"

"Yes, thank you," I said, staring at him for a bit and then walking towards the door.

I walked the way he told me. _Down the hall, last door to the left, right?_

I entered the door and closed it after me. I just stood there for a minute, staring. My life just gets weirder and weirder and so many things were happening lately, both good and bad, that I needed to order my thoughts for a bit.

With a sigh I decided to continue with what I was doing and undress in order to take a quick shower. I could feel the wet and mud-filled cloths stick to my body and I was glad to have then off. After I finished undressing I walked towards the shower and started to was the mud out of my hair with a bit of shampoo that I figured would be Alfred's (there was only one bottle of shampoo that said 'for men').

It felt nice to felt the shower pour its warm water all over me, embracing me with warmth and relaxation. It's been a while that I could shower so peacefully, and it was kind of surprising I felt so at ease at someone else's' house. D

I quickly washed the rest of the mud off my body and then decided I was ready to turn off the shower and put on the cloths I got from Alfred.

But as I stepped out of the shower, I only saw the tower lying there, and my own, wet cloths.

Suddenly it beat me; I had put down the cloths in Alfred's room as I emptied my pockets from important possessions, and forgot to pick them up again.

Plans started to form in my head, -_how could I've been so stupid anyways?-_ but in the end I figured there was only one thing to do; walk back to Alfred's room and then put on the cloths.

I'd have to be quick, try to make the boy not notice any of my bruises, wounds or small scars. I was sure it wouldn't ever go unnoticed but I could try to make it as little visible as possible. _But still…_

I still felt a bit uncertain, but there was no other way to do this, so I better get on with it. And thus I was no walking along the hall towards the door of Alfred's bedroom, holding my dirty cloths up to my torso and getting ready to make a quick dash towards the cloths.

I opened to door, and Alfred was eating crisps by now, while sitting on his bed, soda in one hand.

"There ya are, finally!" he said, "Mom said she'll wash yer dirty cloths and put then in the dryer so ya can wear them when ya go home, if ye don't wanna sleep over,"

"Yes, thank your mum," I said, trying to locate where exactly the cloths were lying and walking towards them as little noticeable as possible, and put down the dirty cloths on the ground near the desk, turning around to grab the shirt –I still had a towel wrapped around my waist- but was too late.

"Hey, what's that, Artie?" Alfred asked, looking at some bruised and bandaged parts of my body. I frowned at him and gave him a glare.

"None, of your business," I said with a dark voice. _I better make him not ask me about it again, and since he's oblivious it's best to do it the hard way._ Or that's what I thought at least.

Alfred just stared at me for a bit and then asked me a question with a bit of a suspicious voice.

"Hey, Artie, ya sure yer all right?"

I turned around, t-shirt now pulled over my head, and looked him in the eyes. I was shocked, he'd might be suspicious of what I have been going through. His face, his movements, his voice… maybe he was able in reading the atmosphere and people's emotions if he really tried.

"No I am...-" I started, for a moment feeling like I better tell him, but then coming to my senses; the more I told him, the more he'd be involved. And with all these money problems I got since last night, I'd better try him not to be. It could get dangerous and I wouldn't want him to get hurt because of me, it wouldn't be fair.

And thus I decided I'd better come up with a lie again.

"I mean, yes I'm fine, quite all right actually. Just fell last time, and all… just usual clumsiness…" As I continued my sentence, it became more and more of just some murmuring. I felt bad for lying to him once again, but on the same time I also felt like I'd better keep him out.

_This wasn't anything of his business._

He just stared at me with a bit of suspicion a bit longer before deciding this would be the best he'd get and thus better change topics. And so he gave me my cup of tea and held the bowl of crisps towards me.

"Wanna play a videogame after all?" he asked, already walking towards his game consol and switching it on.

"Yes, sure," I decided as I put on the baggy pants and walked towards where he was sitting I front of the TV.

My mind wandered off to my lie again, thinking it was the worst I could've came up with, and still feeling bad about lying… _but it's for his own good… _

_Right?_

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Lol still on holiday and already a new chapter. I feel kind of proud of myself._

_I hope this chapter wasn't too much OOC but… I just figured this should happen? _

_I don't know if I will be uploading a new chapter of HwRT as well, but please be grateful for this rather long chapter within two days! This really cost some time, guys! XD_

_Well nothing much happened, except that castles still are damn beautiful and it's nice to have a pool in the backyard. :3 yes I am like some spoiled, rich brat here XD_

_Also thanks for all nice reviews last chapter! It were so many it drove me to writing this new chapter so quickly! :D and yes there will be violence then XD just will put small warnings at the start and ending of the parts, just in case, but it will definitely be there XD_

_Also I got some small suggestions of some readers what they'd like to see happening XD I still cant promise anything but I will try fitting it in a bit? Serving the fellow fangirls, ;D_

_Lol for the ones who didn't read yet; the stove here has the name 'Arthur' written on it… but well, I'm still alive, so maybe my mum's cooking beats Arthur's influence? XD _

_And I'm a bit sad cuz I didn't have an opportunity to eat m newly bought maple syrup yet. It's the first time I actually found maple syrup, but my mum wont let me eat it on anything else but pancakes….. but we barely eat pancakes ._

_Also thanks to Katie, some awesome UK friend of mine I met thanks to HwRT (she was the first to comment :D) I now know people in Britain eat crisps on their bread XD I would love to taste it sometime but damn my mum wont let me, she told me 'it's disgusting' and she'd 'never ever let me eat crisps again' if I tried it…. ;A; _

_But someday, I will!_

_I hope you enjoyed and jgbhjdbrfhj next update? I cant be sure xD still, thanks for reading, and see you guys soon! :D_

_Byee :D _

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_(07/11/11)_


	6. Chapter 6

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 6

_By HambugerWithTea_

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><p>The rest of that noon had passed very nice, but way too fast in my opinion. Alfred had decided not to pester me any longer about 'if I was all right', which almost made me forget about all the bad parts of my life.<p>

But as I said, like all other happy moments in my life, they all ended too soon, and therefore I was now on my way back home.

The streetlights were already switched on, and it was around eleven, I noticed when I gave a quick glance to my mobile phone –it was a cheap one, but it was good enough for text messages and calling, so people and school wouldn't have to call my home-phone and didn't have to try talking with my drunk dad.

But that aside, I had quite a nice noon and evening. It started off with just playing videogames and Alfred's mother bringing us something to drink. But after I said I got tired of staring at the same screen all the time, we figured we should do something else, and since it was almost dinnertime by then, we decided we should get downstairs.

But as I had walked past Alfred's desk, I had noticed a picture of some boy who looked kind of like him, and another picture where he was together with Alfred and his mum, and even another man, which I figured would be Alfred's father. They seemed happy.

"Is this your brother?" I had asked, while turning around to face Alfred who was already walking through the door after he'd picked up the dishes from when we got something to drink.

"Yeah, that's Matthew," he'd said, "'nd that man is my dad, he's totally awesome!"

I looked at him, for a second I felt a small emotion of jealousy burn in my stomach, but it soon was gone; Alfred deserved such a happy life, after all.

"Are…Are your parents divorced?" I dared to ask, knowing Alfred would probably have no problem with it.

"No, they're still together, but Mattie attended this very high-ranked school in Canada 'nd all, but I was accepted to this school here, so after a lot of talkin' we decided my dad would live with Mattie in Canada, and my mom would come watch over me as I stayed in the UK," he explained, a small smile on his face as he thought back at his family, "I've not seen them in a while, but my mom will go visit them in 'bout a week. She'll be away for 'bout two weeks, checkin' up on them or somethin'…" he started to mumble, probably thinking it wasn't really important.

"…Do you miss them?" Was the first question I asked after a small silence. I knew it was an answer that would get an obvious answer, but I just wanted to hear that answer, I guess. It was nice to, once in a while, hear people tell them about being happy and close with their family; it made me feel like not all hope was lost yet.

"Yeah, kinda, I mean, my mom 'nd dad are the best parents ever 'nd Mattie is the most awesome brother on earth as well!" Alfred beamed at me. His face visibly lightened up by talking about his family, and I stared at him in a while. It were these moments that I _really _envied people like him, yet I thought he deserved it.

He was always helpful and cheerful, and he'd definitely try everything to help others.

He might be oblivious and loud, and sometimes also somewhat obnoxious, but he didn't mean any harm. He was the type of person I'd always wanted to be, but life for me was different. I hated it, my life that is. Even after Alfred started becoming my friend, I still didn't really enjoy my life as I should.

He only made some parts of my life brighter, but as soon as he was gone, I would go back into that hell hole of mine called 'a life'.

"Alfred, Arthur, dinner!" Was what was called from downstairs not long after Alfred ended talking, and I was glad for the distraction.

Alfred rushed downstairs, smiling greatly and yell a happy "Yes!" as he noticed what kind of food they would be eating: hamburgers.

The dinner had been very nice, and I could see Alfred and his mum were rather close.  
>Even though her first impression made you think she was kind of timid and just very nice, she turned out to have more in common with Alfred than expected. They both kept making jokes and were like the usual loud stereotypical Americans, but still I could very much enjoy it. I even found myself smiling at some point.<p>

But also this happy part of my life passed soon, and after we finished the delicious dessert –different flavours of ice it was- we headed to watch some TV. It'd been a while since I'd had been watching TV peacefully, without having to be alert not to make too much noise to make my father get angry at me.

I had switched it on the news, which had Alfred become very bored, and as soon as it was over he decided to switch to a action film they were airing on another channel. He'd been watching this film, and I kind of enjoyed it; it turned out to be one of the newest James Bond films, and I must say he is a rather 'awesome' character –as Alfred would put it.

Alfred had asked me to stay over again, but I declined. I better not waste my time, but should figure out how to pay the debt my dad had somehow created with the loan sharks.

And therefore, instead of going home, I figured I'd better walk around in town, looking for something that might pay well.

I wasn't thinking of anything really bad, but I did know, like everyone else, that the sinister jobs would pay the most. I would definitely not get myself into a very difficult business, but this was the only way.

I took one of the last driving bussed to the city. I should be able to walk there, but by bus it would be much quicker, and I'd already have to walk back anyways.

It didn't take too long until I was dropped at the bus stop near the city's central. Most of the main street showed several pubs and bars, though they were empty compared to how they would look on Friday or Saturday nights.

I made my way towards the street, but instead of staying on the main road I soon got myself wandering around the darker allays that were barely noticeable. The first few shops were still just average restaurants and small shops, but I knew that if I'd walk on a bit longer, I'd be able to get to the destination I was thinking of. Also I knew I'd better not be too outstanding, and therefore I kind of tried to hide myself in my black jacket.

It felt nice to walk around in my own clothing again; Alfred's mum had quickly washed my cloths and put them in the dryer so I could wear them when I went home.

After walking for a bit, I started to come into the more dangerous part of town. At first it seemed to just be average shops, but the kind of glares you got, and the way people tried to be as little visible as possible exposed the true nature of this part of town.

I walked on, though a bit less fast as in the beginning and started to hide even more in my jacket. I still wasn't sure what kind of job I was looking for and if I'd even wanted to be here, but thinking back to the way these loan sharks seemed to be dead serious and ready to kill me or my dad –or maybe even both- if we didn't get the money, got me to walk on.

As I walked past all these people, who were all still trying to be invisible and unrecognisable, I could sometimes see small packages and huge amounts of money being exchanged to each other. There were women trying to seduce a few of these guys with money, and some even succeeded. And I could've sworn I'd even see a gun pointed at someone, half hidden under the sleeve of a jacket.

This definitely wasn't the place to be, but I didn't have a choice, really. I better be over with this as soon as possible, and pretend this never happened after this month is over and I've paid of the dept. Until then, I decided, I'd better give myself a different name around this area, not to be know after I would be gone again.

Suddenly I could feel a large hand grab my shoulder. It stunned me and my heart almost skipped a beat, but I figured I'd best stay calm and turn around. After all, I'd done nothing bad, right?

As I turned around, I ended up looking into the face of a man who seemed rather rich. He got a grin on his face, showing off some golden teeth, and his nice suit also added to that idea. Overall he wasn't a very special man, but he was strong and looked like you better should not mess with him. I even suspected him to be part of the mafia.

"What's a young lad like you doing here, boy?" he asked, grinning even wider as his big hand, full with big and expensive golden rings, still didn't lose grip of my shoulder, "This isn't the right place for little kids as you, boy," he warned though I couldn't actually fully believe he was really concerned about me.

For a moment I was still quiet, he didn't seem all to trustworthily.

"Uhm…" I staggered, and the grip on my shoulder became a bit more forceful, it was almost too little to notice, "I-I'm looking for a job," I managed to say.

"Aha, a job, huh?" the man nodded, "And what will be your name then, boy?"

I was glad I'd thought up a name to use here, I wouldn't want to tell this guy my real name; for some reason I expected him to be able to show up at my house any moment of the day if I would get on his bad side, and I didn't even want to know what he'd do if he was mad.

"William," I said, surprised by my own straight face, "William Brooks."

I had just picked a random name, not really caring much about it except for it being fully different from my real name.

"William, huh?" the man slowly nodded in approval, "I think I might know where to look for you," he now said, slowly starting to drag me along.

I wasn't too keen on him dragging me along, but I didn't really have a choice; the hands of this man were strong and I didn't want to get on his bad side, showing him I didn't like him much. And besides, this might actually lead me to a job.

He took several turns, leading to more allays, and slowly I started to worry if I shouldn't better run for it if I wanted to stay alive. But just as I started thinking what would be my best way out, the man stopped walking. I looked up and saw a rather average building in front of me.

The curtains were closed but you could hear the music and see the neon lights from even several allays away. I really felt like I shouldn't be here, but as the man started to drag me in, I knew there was no way back.

As we walked in, I could immediately see what kind of club this was. I didn't want to work here, no way! But still, I kept walking on as if I didn't feel any different. _It's for the money, afterwards I'm done with it…_

The man continued to walk towards the back of the club, an knocking on a door that said 'private'. Soon the door was opened by a man in expensive cloths, though there was someone in even more expensive ones sitting behind a desk on the opposite side of the room. The man wasn't really special or noticeable, but one thing was very eye-catching on him; a big pair of sunglasses. They did show his eyes, though, but they still gave him some kind of dark feeling.

The door closed as we walked in, without saying anything, and I immediately felt locked up. I couldn't run away anymore, I might actually got myself into even more trouble.

"So, what have you found me?" the man behind the desk asked, staring intensely at the man still dragging me forward with his hand on my shoulder.

"It's a jackpot," the man who brought me here said, "Here, take a look," and he pushed me forward so I almost stumbled and fell flat on my face. Luckily I could keep my balance.

The man behind the desk stood up and walked towards me, and then around me. Not saying anything, but looking as if he was making notes for himself.

As he'd walked three times around me I stopped in front of me. I didn't say anything, nor moved. It was as if I was frozen, even though so many emotions of feeling this was _very bad trouble _kept rushing though me.

The man now grabbed my face by my chin, starting to turn it around a bit, inspecting every part of me.

"Nice eyes you got there, boy," he said, "You'll do _very_ good, I can tell. What's your name?" he now asked as he released my face.

It was hard for me to get my voice back again after such a long silence.

"W-William Brooks," I said, still pokerfaced. Even I didn't know I could be this emotionless.

"Well, then, William," a small, dark smirk appeared on the man's face, "How about you work here, huh?"

I stared at him, not giving a twitch.

"It will pay nice, boy. With you it could be an average one thousand a night, these rich are very _very_ keen on boys like yourself," he continued when I didn't answer him, "And maybe even more, if you count the tips you'll get if you do your job nicely,"

_Wait, one thousand a night, which means it'll only be around ten nights. It's a lot of money, and for only a few days… and maybe even less then ten if I manage to get though tips. After all, it wasn't selling myself, it was just stripping… just stripping…_

"… It's just stripping, right?" I asked, voice a bit hoarse, "And no stings attached, just as long as I want and quitting not being a problem, right?

"Sure, boy, if that's what you want," the man said, still having a grin on his face.

It took me a while before I said it and it felt like it was someone else speaking, but eventually I did it.

"Deal," I said.

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><p><em>OKAY SOMEONE TELL ME WHY ME EATING MAPLE SYRUP AND PANCAKES ENDS UP IN CRUEL STUFF LIKE THIS? ;A;<em>

_Since yes I actually was procrastinating all day long, until after I (finally!) ate maple syrup and got hyper :/ _

_Okay so this chapter is long…. And little Alfred ;A; though I am glad I finally got to tell you guys about Alfred's family. I didn't want you guys to think his parents were divorced :P_

_And I'm back home now, yay xD and I got some more sympathy for Francis, after I saw all this beautiful castles of his! He sure is a beautiful country XD_

_Also, THESE GUYS THAT DRAGGED HIM TOWARDS THE CLUB AND THE MAN WITH THE SUNGLASSES ARE OC'S! I didn't want to be any Hetalia character at blame ;A; _

_Overall, I'm rather content with this chapter? I still have a lot of inspiration for this fanfic, now I've got the plot sorted out, and after this is finished I already have a new story I am still making the plot for… STEAMPUNK AU! :3 (yes my obsession with steampunk usuk kicked in XD)_

_I'm so cruel to Artie, please don't kill me ;A; IT WILL BE ALLRIGHT, I think… *evil snicker*_

_Can I even write a stripping scene? ;A; am I capable of doing so? ;A; and beating will also appear soon…life is harsh on Artie dear._

_Not much to say, I think :/ just that next chapter should be up soon, and that I should continue with these damned one-shots I'm writing… its kinda hard to keep motivated when nobody is waiting for it, since I wont write it for myself; I already have the story in my head XD_

_Oh and JUST A MONTH UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN, AND I DO NOT WANT I don't have anyone I know in the class, and I don't feel like socialising this year :/ also since these kids are…. Damn annoying. And the worst of all; I've been quite busy and totally forgot about chemistry! And that means, I now have to learn a year full of info in less then a month, and holidays even! ;A; DAMN SCHOOL, YOU'RE SO CRUEL, IT'S YOUR FAULT I HAVE TO DO THIS TO BEGIN WITH, TAKE FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY ALREADY! No really its their fault ,and if I hadn't noticed I'd be even more screwed, and they promised me they should take care of it, and I don't get any response from them :/ fuck school damn it, lucky my BROTHER IS SO AWESOME HE'S GONNA STUDY CHEMISTRY ON THE UNIVERISTY! :D and therefore he can help me. He's a hero! XD /shot_

_Okay now I have raged, I will upload :D yay_

_See you! And DON'T hesitate for reviews, I'm so sadistic I love reading reviews about how bad you guys feel for Artie XD and if you sign them (for FF) I will be sure to reply! (no really, I always reply with stuff . I'm soooooo behind answering messages from people :S STILL DON'T HESITATE I don't mind talking to readers! ;A;) (did you see my begging-face?)_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(07/20/11)_


	7. Chapter 7

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 7

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Before I start I warn you guys the rating's gone up to M xD wohoo my first M-rated story XD You'll probably see why later in this chapter or otherwise next one, and I'm surprised only ONE of you readers though about what to do about Artie's scars if he goes… well… stripping XD but I'd already figured something out, it'll not be very surprising, and may be un-realistic, but it's the best I could come up with. Thanks for all the reviews and comments, alerts, favourites, whatever. Now I wont pester you guys any longer ;D OFF WE GO<p>

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><p>Right now I was sitting in class. Monday had come around as I went to sleep late yesterday. I didn't really sleep peacefully and I actually felt most horrid. It was probably noticeable by looking at me, since a lot of people gave me small worried looks.<p>

I most of all hadn't slept well because of what kind of deal I had made. I knew it was stupid, but to be honest, I didn't and still don't know any other way to collect the money. I'm kind of sure these loan sharks wont let me go off easy if I would tell the police. And even if I did tell the police, I didn't even knew their names or full faces. There was just no way out of it.

Yesterday, after I'd agreed on the deal, they took several measurements for what they called 'work cloths'. I didn't even want to know what they would look like, to be honest. Also they had made me strip. Not like these girls in the front of the club, no, just changing out of my cloths so they could take a look at me. I've never felt more uneasy, even though I'd never liked to undress in front of other people, but they glares alone were enough to make me do what they said. _But I'll be over with it in ten days…_I kept thinking as I stood there, only wearing my underwear.

Of course they had noticed my scars and bruises and for a second I'd though they would immediately fire me again because it was impossible for me to look nice like this, but the man with the sunglasses had told me about more 'employees' having them. Again, I didn't want to know more. I'd better not get myself too sucked-up into this mess; the sooner it was over, the better.

As a solution to them, they'd told me to wear some foundation-like makeup, even though it's a girls' thing, and said that as long as I moved, no body would even notice. And I could understand them; after all, form what I'd seen sitting in the club with just a quick glance, were mostly rich men who couldn't care less about anybody but themselves, so not even about the girl who was seducing them at that moment. And the same would be for me.

We agreed that I should work from Wednesday until Sunday, so I'd have the Monday and Tuesday off. Not because they really cared for me having free time, but more since the club would be mostly closed as there were no people around at these days.

I still couldn't stop thinking and the longer I thought about it, the more of a conscience I got. I knew I'd regret this, but at least this way I still had a chance. _God only knows what would happen if I didn't show up with the money on time…_

I almost found myself sleeping on my desk until I felt someone poke my side. I was never able to sit still if someone did, and thus I jumped up as if hit by lightning. Soon my surprise was over, since _of course it was that git again._

"Artie!" Alfred said to me, well more like yelled into my ear, "Wow, ya look sleepy, dude! Don't sleep in class ya told me, yet you do so yerself now, better make sure the teacher doesn't notice," he kept rambling, as usual.

"Sod off, git! I wasn't asleep, I was just resting a bit," I started to scowl at him, "I'd never sleep in class!" _And really, I wouldn't! School was way too important._

"Ya really look tired," Alfred noticed. I just turned my head away, lying it back down onto my arms on the desk. I didn't feel like talking to him, not to anyone. I was still too busy with thinking of my own problems and I didn't really have the energy to deal with others.

"Iggy, are ya sick?" Alfred now asked, while he walked over to the other side of my desk and started to search for my eyes. I just looked up at him with a tired face, somewhat glaring but not convincing enough to keep the boy from asking anything else.

"Really, if ya don't feel well, go home. It's better for ya,"

I just stared at him for a bit, until I got myself to respond.

"I'm not sick, just tired. Just don't bother me and I'll be fine,"

"You sure?"

Why couldn't he stop asking me questions and just leave me be. Right now I wasn't worth his attention, I was just some stupid, helpless idiot that couldn't save himself from his own miserable life.

"Yes, I'm sure, no be quiet, the class is about to start,"

And with that been said, Alfred at least stopped asking questions. He wasn't really silent but I had gotten used to him being talk active over the past weeks we'd know each other.

The classes continued with me not really focussing. Normally I'd be taking notes and try to learn as much as possible, but I just couldn't keep my mind form wandering off.

In what had seemed like minutes, it was already time for the first break, and therefore Alfred and I were no walking towards the canteen. We'd both brought our own lunchbox, but I didn't really feel like eating.

"Really, I don't believe ya when ya say yer not sick," Alfred suddenly popped up next to me. Or at least that's what it felt like, since he'd been sitting next to me all the time.

Normally we'd be sitting outside in breaks, but today the weather was rainy and therefore most people stayed inside, which made it so crowded I slowly started to get a headache.

"No, I'm fine, really," I said again.

"Don't believe ya, Artie. Ya've not been payin' attention in class, ye've been spacin' out all the time 'nd ya don't even eat yer food," he suddenly tried to get eye contact. He looked at me with a serious face and I was really surprised he was capable of making one.

"I'm _fine_, stop asking already!" I suddenly lost my temper. I couldn't really help it, it were just the worries, I think.

Alfred just kept staring at me with his serious face, as I stood up, ready to walk away. But just then the bell rang, and therefore I didn't have the time to storm off on my own. Alfred just followed me silently, since the next class would be PE, which we share.

We didn't speak as we made our way towards the changing rooms, even though Alfred kept watching me, as if I were to collapse any moment. _Probably thinking he's quite the hero._ Was what I thought with an annoyed feeling.

It turned out we were the first ones to arrive at the door to the changing rooms, but there were already more students arriving. Soon after them the PE teacher himself got there and he opened the doors for us, and we started changing.

Still we didn't really speak anything, but Alfred kept giving me a serious face. It made me feel uneasy; the American boy usually smiled as if there couldn't be anything wrong, yet today he was different. As if he didn't keep his eyes away from me, making sure I was all right. _Maybe it was because of what he'd seen yesterday?_

I quickly shook my head an tried to get back from my daydream again as the other boys started walking out of the room. As usual I didn't have to change, still not 'able' to attend PE, but even then I had to tell the teacher I was there and help him keeping the scores and some other small jobs.

The say went fast after that. Alfred started talking to me again, and I just kept responding, though he didn't ask me about my wellbeing again.

We walked out of the school together, as the final bell rang, and split up later at the route to both go our own ways. Alfred had just said goodbye, and I just said so too, but still I could _feel _him staring at me as I walked off, trying my hardest not to look over my shoulder.

I sighed as I finally made my way around the corner, free from the ever watching eyes from Alfred. I was glad he care about me, but I knew he'd better stay out of this. He deserved his perfect life to stay perfect.

It was then that I felt my mobile vibrate in the pocket of my trousers. I quickly looked who it could be and was kind of surprised to read the name… yet, it was also somewhat to be expected after today…

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><p><strong>From:<strong> Hero!

**To:** Arthur Kirkland

Get some sleep, OK?

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><p>It was short, but I was still glad there seemed to be at least <em>someone <em>really caring about me. With a small smile on my face I walked towards my home, for a moment not thinking about what could be awaiting me.

I walked into my home as usual, and closed the door. It was only then that I noticed I'd have better stayed outside.

I heard a thumb from the door leading to the living room, and not long after the sound my father appeared, leaning onto the doorframe and holding a bottle of a liquid which I suggested to be whiskey.

He was drunk, and not in a good mood.

I slowly backed off, trying to make as little sound and movements as I tried making my way upstairs, but I knew it wouldn't work. Before I even got near the stairs my father grabbed me by my wrist and held it very strongly. I could feel the bruises starting to form.

"Where'd you come from, huh? Ungrateful scum," he glared at me. This wasn't good, _not at all._

He now started to drag me into the living room and tugged at my wrist again so I stood in front of him. I stared at him with eyes filled with fear, not daring to move.

"Why didn't you brin' me any food huh?"

Oh that's right, I was supposed to buy new food today, but I'd forgotten with my spacing-out. I really regretted it now, though.

"I- I was about to get some, dad," I managed to say, trying to keep my voice calm.

_Ouch!_

I was hit in the face by a hand. I could already feel my cheek burning, but I just stood there. The less I did, the sooner it'd be over.

"Why didn't you already buy some then? I even leant you money!"

He hadn't. he hadn't borrowed me any money, but I was pretty sure it was one of his drunken-dreams again.

"Because I didn't have the time, dad, I went to school all day,"

_Bang! _This time I was hit right into my shoulder, and soon after it kicked in my shank. I could feel myself fall down as the pain spread through my body, and I automatically grabbed onto my leg, trying to keep it from hurting even more.

"Then don't go to that bloody school of yours! It's useless and costs a lot of money! You better work and do what your dad tells you," he started kicking me in my sides and back now, "You're a disgrace! Don't fucking ever do this again, or I'll strangle you with my own hands!"

I tried to stay calm. As usual he started hitting me for a no-good reason, but I knew that if I didn't move nor replied to him, it'd be over way sooner. Still I could now feel him pick me up by my shirt, and throwing me into the wall.

He was way stronger then he, himself, would probably think.

I tried to turn away from another fist coming at me, but was too late and he hit me right into my left ribs. It hurt, but I was starting to feel numb by now.

After the last few years I'd started to fore myself not to feel the pain and just think of other things, so it would go over soon.

I fell back onto the ground again, now half leaning against the wall, as my dad started kicking onto me again. I just tried to protect my head as I lied there, making myself as small as possible.

It took what seemed like ages, and my dad didn't say anything else then the usual cursing and scolding before he finally stopped and walked off to the fridge to grab some leftovers of the food and a new bottle of alcohol.

I took this chance to go upstairs, quickly picking up my bag as I walked up the stairs, my body hurting everywhere and every movement taking away the last drain of my energy. I was glad I reached my room without collapsing half way, and after I closed the door behind me and leaning against it for some temporary support I now stumbled my last few steps to my bed, only to fall right onto it.

It were these times when I felt like the most miserable person or earth. I could feel how tears slowly started to form in my eyes, as I silently lay there, not moving and not even trying to change into my pyjama's. I just stared at the wall my bed was put against as the tears now started to fall down my face.

_Why can't I be stronger? Why can't I just go back to my life as how it was when mum was still alive? Why can nothing ever go right in my life?_

I thought as I kept staring, now slowly starting to blink my eyes to try keeping the tears from my eyes. I just lied there and slowly I could feel my mind wander off to dreams. _It_ _was only when I was asleep that I was in a perfect world…_

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Damn that's sad ;A; WHY DO I EVEN WRITE THIS? Ah yeah cuz I love guys who are suffering… yet I kind of failed :/_

_Well then, as said in the top comment, rating's gone up for next chapter (and maybe this too with beating, though it's not reaaaaally serious(yet?))_

_I was glad with all the responses I forgot, and I can assure you guys I will write fast for this story, since I really feel like writing it :D and I've got a next story in line, as told in the last chapter._

_Okay so the idea of how to cover up Artie's scars might not be very realistic or original, but hey, it's true; in these kind of fucked up clubs there's probably a LOT of girl working there who are forced to do this stuff. Therefore it's not uncommon. And even if it's not like that IRL it still is here :/ sorry I'm stubborn XD_

_Don't have much to tell, except that I've got over 5 different ideas of how to make Alfred eventually notice what's happening in Artie's life XD lol its hard to decide XD_

_Uhm Reviews are welcomed, very VERY MUCH. And I also want to thank the two not-signed reviews I got on FF for last chapter, since I couldn't reply to them (obviously)_

_Okay spelling checker, go do your work, and then ill upload XD OFF WE GO (I love saying that with British accent…)_

_Bye! :D_

_P.S. I fail at writing someone being drunk :/ that's why I stick with normal voca, sorry, use your imagination please, or give me some suggestions :/_

_P.S.S. I know Alfred should get more screen time, but that's for later :/ I first have to let Artie live some pretty damned life XD_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(07/21/11)_


	8. Chapter 8

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'!<strong>

Chapter 8

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Again a small AN before I start writing; I want to thank everyone who favourite, alerted, reviewed, commented, suggested parts, requested stuff, helped me out, etc.<p>

Also, I think I found myself a beta (_Trumpet-Geek_ on FF) for this story, since I don't want to bother _Hells-Lounge_ from dA too much, I know she's busy. I'm seriously amazed by how much everybody seems to like it and how much people actually bother to think up a possible ending, and I am very very grateful. I'd never expected it as I started the first chapter out of boredom. Once again; thank you all, you deserve this chapter even more then ever!

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><p><em>I could feel the darkness around me. I felt empty, locked away, ignored. The pain in both my heart and body couldn't cheer me up either. <em>

_I felt trapped. Just a second before I was still in the world I loved the most; my dream world, filled with all types of fantasy-friends. Some might call them girly or childish, but for me they were important; they always cheered me up._

_But as I was walking around this the most joyful landscape I've ever seen, all of a sudden I could feel the ground slip away from under my feet, and I fell down into the pitch black well I was in right now. _

_My friends had looked at me, they saw me falling, yet they didn't seem to be able to do anything before I was completely vanished from the happy word, thrown right into the darkness._

_There I was now, and it didn't seem like there was anyone around me. It felt as if I was locked up, I couldn't move, and I even started to feel how chains started to form around my neck, arms and legs. _

_In the distance I could hear people talking, all kinds of people; some I knew, some I didn't. Not even one of them seemed to pay mind to me._

_Some voices became louder, and now I could recognise some of them; I could hear my dad yell at me. Why was he angry? Did he drink again? What was it this time?_

_As I tried to listen what he yelled at me, I could hear more voices coming. But there was one I couldn't place._

_I knew the voice, I was sure, but I couldn't think of who it was. As if the subconscious part of my brain tried to keep me from remembering, from getting him near me, near this dark place, filled with misery._

_I could hear this one voice really loud now, I was trying to hear what it was saying…_

"_Come, let me save ya,"_

"_I'm here to help you, are ya all right?"_

"_Artie,"_

_I knew that voice, I was sure of it. But still I couldn't think of who it could be. Not even as I slowly started to see a small light in the distance._

_It felt nice to see some sparkle of light in the middle of all the darkness, and therefore I started leaning forward, trying to get closer to it. I wanted to yell at it, scream, tell it I was here, but I couldn't find my voice._

_Slowly the light started to come closer. Or got it bigger?_

_I kept trying to get in touch with it, as if it was my last piece of hope and the last time I could be saved, the only person or thing that was able to free me from my misery._

_The light started to shape into something. Or rather someone._

_Again, I recognised the shape, and right now it was only that one voice I could hear. It seemed like both the white silhouette and I were staring at each other. I could feel some kind of bond between us, and it almost looked as if the silhouette felt the same. _

_Slowly he reached down, towards my face. Then his fingers reached me. They were warm, and I could feel the warmth spread through my body. It made me feel happy, saved, loved even._

_The silhouette now started leaning the rest of his body forward, and the closer he came, the warmer I felt. And the warmer I felt, the more the chains started to disappear, they started to shine white as the man –or boy?- leaning forward to me, and disappeared into the background which also slowly started to turn into the brightest white I've ever seen._

_The hand still caressed my face and I could feel the face of this familiar stranger coming closer, almost too close._

_We almost touched lips now, and the world around me was pure white. I felt freed, felt saved. Felt loved. _

_Loved it was._

_Right as he touched my lips with his own we both opened our eyes, staring right into each other's. We stared on and in a flash of blue it popped into my head._

_Was it…?_

I woke up, covered in cold sweat, and panting as if I'd just ran a marathon. My eyes went wide in surprise, and I tried to remember why I was so surprised again, but I couldn't remember.

I couldn't remember what that light was, _who it was._ And yet, I was so close…

I stared in the darkness for a bit longer, and slowly I started to recognise the shapes of the items in my room. I could see my desk, chair, messenger back…

I tried to sit up, trying to think over what just happened, what I just dreamt, but as I moved I could feel my ribs hurting.

I've had it worse, so I was used to it, but I knew it'd be better to just lie down.

I could feel how a small headache started to form as I tried to figure out what kind of dream I just had. All I could remember was the light, the very beautiful white light, and then the small flash of blue. Sky blue.

I knew it was somehow related to _someone _in my life, but it just wouldn't show up, no matter how much I tried.

After a little while of trying to catch my breath again, I turned onto my side, looking at the alarm clock next to my bed.

It was almost six in the morning now, but as crappy as I felt right now I'd better sleep a little longer, might even skip school. I knew it was important, but I felt miserable, and still had stuff to take care of.

With a sigh I turned onto my other side and tried to fall asleep. Not soon after –or at least it felt not so soon after- I got awoken by my alarm.

It was seven, and the headache didn't lessen, and my body still ached as earlier that morning. Therefore I decided it'd be best to send Alfred a text message I wasn't coming to school today.

He would understand, after all he was the one who suggested it in the first place.

I didn't get an reply, the twat was probably still sleeping at this hour, and I turned around again, planning on continuing my sleep for the second time that morning.

But no matter how much I tried, I was awake now and I couldn't bring myself to sleep. After half an hour of just lying there, doing nothing special, I decided I'd better wake up. I still had things to take care off, such as buying groceries and do yesterday's homework.

I figured I'd better buy groceries later today, when school would be out, since otherwise people might be suspicious. First I should fix myself some breakfast, and maybe I could try cleaning up a bit form the mess in the living room.

The last month I hadn't been able to do much cleaning and laundry. I think it's mainly because I was too busy with helping Alfred out, or being at the library, and therefore it was now one big mess in the house. Asides from my dad not doing anything when he was sleeping from the alcohol, he also made a big mess whenever he got aggressive.

But that was for later, still had breakfast to eat.

I walked down the stairs into the living room. It seems like my dad wasn't here, he was probably in his bed by now, which I should be grateful of since it didn't happen often. This also made it easier to clean.

I quickly ate two slices of bread with Nutella, not feeling very hungry, and poured myself a good mug of tea. I was in need of it.

It didn't take much time to finish and I decided to start with cleaning the used dishes. I didn't like an untidy house, but it was unavoidable when you were living with someone like my dad.

After I finished the dished, I cleaned up the bottles from alcohol that were spread throughout the room and the rest of the house. I didn't bother to go to my father's room, that was the one place where I didn't have to walk around myself, so it was his own responsibility. That was the least he could do for me.

As I finished this, I looked back at the clock. It was half past twelve now, and I decided I should go for a quick shower now my father was still asleep. And thus I walked upstairs, into the bathroom.

As I was there I walked past the mirror and couldn't help but check if my cheek was swollen too bad. I turned towards it and looked.

I looked miserable; I had bags under my eyes, my hair was even messier the usual, I still had cut under my eye from another time my dad has beaten me, and my cheek was a bit red. Still it didn't feel like it would swell too bad, and therefore I was grateful.

I felt even worse looking at myself, seeing the one person in the world I didn't want to be, and quickly undressed and stepped into the shower.

It felt nice to clean my body from the cold sweat from earlier that day, and I felt a little better thanks to it all. Also, with these cold and rainy days lately, it felt very comfortable and warm. I didn't feel like going away, I felt like I should stand here forever, life just staying as it was this very moment; peaceful.

But I knew that wasn't going to happen, and I quickly started washing the shampoo out of my hair and wash the res of my body. The bruises felt less bad, now they were a bit warmed up by the water. I finished soon after and dried myself off, also trying to comb my hair, but I knew it didn't matter; my hair was always messy.

I walked back to my room and got myself some fresh cloths, as I put my old ones in the laundry. I still had a few hours to go until it wasn't suspicious to be walking around in a store, and therefore I decided I'd try drawing something again for once.

It didn't seem like my dad would wake up soon anyways.

I grabbed some pieces of paper and a pencil and started to sketch. It didn't matter to me what I drew really, I just drew what I felt like, but soon I found myself drawing an old castle, surrounded by nature and fantasy animals.

I'd always loved old buildings such as castles and houses. I used to visit them with my mother when I was younger, since she also enjoyed it a lot. I didn't remember her face too well asides from two pictured I owned that were taken before she died, and therefore it was a bit hard to imagine, but I could see her smile, as we walked towards the castle. She'd tell me about how people lived in these times, she'd tell me about myths and legends, about creatures and ghosts who were believed to live there. She'd tell me about nature, about the flowers in the herb-garden. She'd tell me everything.

I used to enjoy it a lot. I'd smile and have the best time of my life. But I never went to any castle again after my mum's death. Dad's become too off-track and my brothers also were too busy.

I used to dream a lot about castles and these magical creatures, and I still did, but it felt nice to actually draw it, being able to show the world around me what only I could see, even if there was no one to look at it.

Suddenly I could feel my mobile vibrate in my pocket and I quickly un-blocked it to see what was written in the text message I got.

It seemed Alfred did tell the teachers I was sick for today, but that he wasn't able to reply earlier because he was late –as to be expected.

Also he wished me well, which made me feel a bit warmer inside, though I can't really explain why. He'd sent me the homework as well, though it took me a while to figure out exactly what he'd written, as it was text-message spelling. And I'd never understood it very well.

I quickly replied that I was already feeling better and that I should get back to school tomorrow. He shouldn't worry so much.

Deciding it was time for the grocery shopping, I put aside my drawing supplies and put on my shoes. I grabbed the very last money I had left from what I brothers had sent me, and my coat.

It didn't took long to get to the supermarket. This might not be the very centre of the city but the most basic stores were here anyways. The old woman who runs the shop is someone I know by now, after all the visits here. I could see her wave from behind her seat near the door.

She didn't work much herself anymore, but she just sat there, always taking care of people who needed help, sometimes watching children as their parents were shopping. Also she'd always be there if you needed someone to talk to; she'd always listen and give you advice.

But today I didn't have the time nor took the effort to talk to her, and thus I only greeted het with a smile, wave and a polite "Good day, Mrs. Smith,"

I quickly finished shopping what I needed, spending almost all of the money –not like it was very much to begin with.

I decided it was time for me to go home, and slowly I went back on the way to the house. The rest of the day wasn't really important.

My dad kept sleeping, and I made him food just in case, and put it on the table, but I didn't think he'd go down to eat it; he was probably too drunk anyways.

That night I slept peacefully after finished my homework. No dreams, not that I remember at least. The morning also went smooth, quickly making some sandwich for myself before running off to the bus stop, trying not to be with my dad for too long.

A day off really made me feel better, even though I still had a small knot of nervousness and nauseous feelings in my stomach whenever I thought of tonight.

It was Wednesday now, and I knew what I had to do tonight, even though I didn't feel like it at all.

Alfred was happier then ever to see me at school again, but I didn't really pay him much mind. Today I just didn't feel like talking to people, even if they could distract me from my own thoughts.

I felt guilty and I knew I shouldn't do this, but I kept making excuses for myself. After all, this was the only quick way, and going to the police wouldn't help either; I'm sure the loan sharks would notice, if they were as sneaky as I thought. Also it wasn't of other people's business. Some people would might have told me I should let other people know so they could help me out, but I didn't want to.

I don't know why I kept making excuses, I just did.

And so the day went on with me staring off in space and Alfred trying to get me to talk to him. That was until the very last school bell rang.

"Hey, Artie, come with me for a bit, I haveta show ya somethin'," Alfred said to me. I wondered what he wanted to show me, so I followed him.

We walked out of the class, grabbing our bags and for some reason Alfred took a long time. Long enough to be the last ones to be around the lockers. I got somewhat suspicious.

"You done, Alfred? I need to hurry today," I said with an annoyed voice.

"Yeah yeah I'm comin'," he said walking up to me. I turned around, ready to walk off. Well that was until I got grabbed by my wrist.

"L-let go of me! What do you think you're doing?" I asked him, quickly tugging my wrist lose from his grip. That wasn't a good idea though, as I now noticed.

Alfred quickly pushed me with my back against the lockers behind me, and I didn't even notice before I could see him staring me right into the eyes from a very small distance.

"Tell me what's goin' on, Artie,"

"There's nothing to worry about, Alfred. Stop kidding with me, let's go home. You had something to show me,"

"That was a lie,"

"What?" I asked him, eyes going wide. Blue eyes now looked away for a bit, somewhat guilty.

"It was a lie to let us be alone for a bit," Alfred continued, his eyes were staring into mine again, "I wanna ask ya somethin',"

The close distance made me uncomfortable and I could feel how my cheeks slowly started to become redder.

"Why do you have to force me like this?" I asked.

"'Cause ya wouldn't tell me if I didn't,"

"You don't know if you didn't ask the question before you forced me. Now let me go,"

"No, Artie. I really want answers,"

I stared at him if he were mad.

"Answers? For what?" I asked, now becoming a bit curious. It took a little before Alfred started to talk, it looked like he was thinking of what to say, but especially _how _to say it.

"Well, I've noticed some things," he started off.

"Tell me," I could feel this wasn't going the way I wanted it to go, but still I had to act as if there wasn't anything wrong.

"Ya've changed this week. Yer all spacin' out 'nd all, 'nd ya've got bruises coverin' yer body. Ya don't participate with PE, ya try to avoid talkin' about yer own life, 'nd right now ya've got a new bruise on yer cheek..." he told me, raising his hand to caress my cheek. I slapped it away.

"So?" I asked, still trying to keep my pose, but I could feel my act starting to crumble down. It couldn't be right? That he figured what was going on? I'd be in big trouble if he did. He as well.

"So, what's goin' on Artie, I wanna know. Don't ya trust me?"

"O-of course I trust you, git! You're my friend, what does it have to do with this anyways, I'm bloody fine!" I started to lose my temper. I didn't know how to deal with this situation and therefore I couldn't help but trying to get out of this as fast as possible, even if it meant acting angry.

"Artie,"

"No, let go of me! You're creeping me out, Alfred, this isn't how you usually act! It doesn't even have anything to do with you in the first place!"

"That's 'cause I'm worried," he said, "'Nd it does have somethin' to do with me, since yer my best friend 'nd I'm a hero to save the people from bad stuff,"

"Well there's nothing to be worried about, and stop acting like you're some kind of superman!"

"There is," he said, "'Nd I just wanna keep ya from bein' hurt, that's heroic 'nd therefore I'm a hero."

"Then what is it, you 'hero'?" I snapped with sarcasm. I didn't mean to yell at him, but it just happened.

"Ya… ya don't trust me, do ya?" he asked me, silently. I felt guilty. Guilty for the obvious pain I gave him, but before I could apologise he continued, "Ya don't trust me, and that's why ya don't tell me 'bout things that don't go well in yer life. I can tell Artie, no need to hide. I'm not as stupid as I look,"

Tears started to form in my eyes for a bit. This couldn't be right? He wasn't supposed to meddle in my life. He should leave it be, it weren't his problems anyway.

"Let got of me," I mumbled, staring at my feet with tears freshly in my eyes.

"No, not 'till ya told me the truth, Artie. Yer hiding somethin' and it's breakin' ya. Just tell me, ya can tru-"

"I said, let go of me!" I yelled again.

But before he could finish his sentence I pushed his right arm away from me and make a quick dash to the door, not even looking back when I heard my name being called.

"Artie! Artie!"

_Don't listen, don't listen, don't listen…_

"Arthur! Don't go, wait!"

But I didn't wait for him. Right now everything was too much. My life was upside down; the one moment I had everything under control, but all of a sudden it slipped from under my grip. He shouldn't care so much, its for his own good I do this, and it's not even his problems. Who'd even bother about me?

I still had tears in my eyes as I walked into the house, slamming the door shut, not caring about my dad, and dashing upstairs. _Waiting for the evening to come._

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Okay I've been typing all evening, my hands are hurting and I didn't bother to beta too much. Sorry but really, MY HAND AND BRAIN AND EYES ARE KILLED._

_So yay jfdfgbjdfd I have to say this is again some sad part . but torlol IT WILL GET BETTER SOMETIME. Just wait for it :3 _

_Well, nothing much about the story to tell, except that OMGitsgreen and DoubleyHaruhi96 on fanfiction helped me out with the first part by both giving ideas and I combined them into the part you read up there._

_Okay so this was LONG chapter IMPORTANT chapter and rather easy to write actually, even though my hands hurt. Torlol I'm glad I got this awesome song called Sounan from Tokyo Jihen, it helped me write on XD_

_Again thanks for the impossible amount of reviews and comments, same for favourites and alerts and watches and WHATEVER. Just a big thanks and a hug from me! (and that means something as I don't hug people often ;D )_

_I hope you enjoyed, sorry for horrible spelling at times. I really really am too tired to check, I might fix it later._

_I hope you guys are pleased with the length and stuff, though I cant promise it to stay this long with every chapter xD_

_Byeee~!_

_P.S. I just HAD to have Artie eat Nutella, since almost everyone I know eats it, and hey it's my every-day breakfast together with tea, okay? XD_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_Nor do I own Nutella. I just love it very dearly._

_(07/23/11)_


	9. Chapter 9

nonbeta

* * *

><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 9

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Lucky bastards! Another chapter, just for you. Claim yourself lucky since this will be the part you've all been waiting for!<p>

But before we go on with the fiction, I'd like to show my sympathy for everyone in Norway. I know I'm late with the news, but I'd just like to say it anyway. It's not thinkable this would ever happen, as with most of these events, but still it did. I hope all people who died will have a good afterlife, even though I'm an atheist, and that their family and loved ones will stay strong. I know I might sound overreacting, but I just wanted to share this with you. Therefore I put "Stay strong, Norway!" in my msn name, etc. so feel free to do so as well; show you care.

Well, even though that was sad, off we go;

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><p>At the moment I was feeling nauseous, guilty and the worst friend ever.<p>

I felt like that for several reasons. First, how I treated Alfred. I knew I shouldn't have some that, but I couldn't help myself. Like with so much other things in life I just screwed up before I realised, even though it's my nature to think things several times over before I act. It's just that when embarrassed or angry that I couldn't stop myself in time.

I felt bad towards Alfred, I knew I shouldn't have yelled at him, he was only trying to help me. But then again, I didn't want him to see me in this state. I wanted him to see me like the strong Arthur he believed me to be, the grouchy one who still could secretly enjoy the jokes Alfred was making. I didn't want for him to see the other side of me, the real side; the weak Arthur, not being able to let go of his father no matter how horrible it made his life, not being able to handle things himself and in need of help.

I was sure Alfred would go in hero-mode when I told him, but I didn't want him to. It's none of his problems, he should stay safe in his own, perfect life. I didn't want to blame myself or torture myself by doing what I did over the past years and pretending nothing is wrong, I just don't want other people to get involved in it. I wouldn't be able to explain myself to them, they would think I'm weak and they would take my father away from me.

No matter how much he beats me, I still cant stop thinking of him as family, and therefore important. Of course I have my brothers, but I can never remembering them really caring for me, but my dad… he cared for me as a kid, and I know it's still somewhere in his heart, that kindness.

Besides from the fact that I kept feeling guilty for my actions earlier that day, I also felt guilty for what was coming up now.

It made me nauseous to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite side of the room, as I just changed my casual cloths for the leather ones (were they supposed to based on a police officer's?) I was wearing now.

The leather followed the shape of my body and showed off some parts of skin. I felt terribly disgusted with myself, but the only thing that kept me going were the consequences of not having the money by the end of the month.

The outfit was mainly a fake police hood, tight leather turtleneck with a tie. Also I wore shorts, at the moment. They were uncomfortable and shaped along with my body, which really gave me an insecure feeling.

My legs were covered up to the knee by black laced-up leather boots, and there were several items as decoration added onto my belt. Those involved the usual handcuffs and the like.

All I could say was that it felt terribly uncomfortable and I wished I was anywhere but here.

At this moment two of the other 'employees' were helping me by covering up different bruises on my back. It were two kind girls, almost too young to work here, yet older then me, and it made me wonder what could have ever brought them to this work. At first it had felt uncomfortable and I had thought of multiple ways to avoid them putting the foundation on, but I figured I didn't really have a choice and eventually I just accepted it, even though my head looked like a tomato.

Earlier, when I arrived, they were pointed out to help me with things. These 'things' involved showing me around and sharing details about frequent customers. Also they had given me several hints and tricks about how to 'perform' well.

"The better you perform, the more money you'll get," on of the girls, she'd introduced herself as Ann, had said, "And since it's rare around here to see a male employee, they will probably pay you even more. They all look rich and perfect, but they are all twisted at some point. Some really have a fetish for the ones like you,"

"Oh yes, definitely. And besides from the club paying you quite a big amount of money, since you're attracting so much customers and all, these guys will probably also give you pretty nice tips," the other girl, named Suzy, continued, "You'll be rich in no-time!"

I just had nodded at them. I already felt nauseous at that time and it didn't seem like it would go away very soon.

I was suddenly awoken from my daydreaming as one of them beamed a happy "Done!"

I looked up at both of the girls standing in front of me, watching their work. I could see in the mirror most were not visible, except for the bigger ones but those were also covered enough to not be very visible.

I was happy about the fact that they hadn't asked me questions about where I got them, but I figured it was probably something there would not be talked about around here. Everyone concerned about themselves.

"You'll be on stage next, so be sure to remember what we told you," Suzy said as she started to walk to the door, "And don't be so nervous. Pretend they are not there. Its not that bad, at least all they do is looking at you, I've seen worse things happening to girls around here…" she added with a somewhat silent and dark voice as I could see her face get a dark shadow. I didn't even want to question her any further.

"Well, off we go then," Ann said with a bit nervous voice, trying to break the silence, "I'm sure you'll do great, Will,"

I almost wanted to correct her by telling her my name is 'Arthur' not 'Will' but suddenly I remembered I made myself a different name around here. I was lucky they hadn't asked me to identify myself.

Without saying much else we exited the room, only to be welcomed by an empty hall leading up to either the backdoor or the stage. Along the hall there were several changing rooms, and a small staircase leading upstairs. I was told not to look upstairs as it was something none of my business. For a second I was curious, but when I remembered what kind of place this was I noticed that I didn't want to know after all.

I made my way down to the door leading to the stage, accompanied by Suzy and Ann. I started to feel even more nauseous and nervous and I tried to convince myself it was for the best. _Just a few days left and you're gone without a trace…_

"Now, go up there. When your name is announced walk to the front of the stage, from there on just pretend there's nobody around you. Pretend it's just dolls, that's what I did my first time as well," Ann tried to convince me, but I could see the pitiful looks in her and Suzy's eyes.

I murmured a quick 'thank you', not even sure if I meant it myself, and silently opened the door. As I walked through it I entered a small, dark part of the stage that was hidden behind a curtain as I could hear music being played.

I quickly turned around with a worried look on my face as I could catch a glimpse of the girl's pitiful look once again before the door closed and I was left standing with only a curtain separating me from the lustful looks in the club.

Again I could feel the urge to run away from this place, pretending this never happened, but I didn't get the chance to even get so far as I could hear the music end and the girl that had been 'performing' before me started to make her way back to the door behind the curtains. I didn't look at her as she walked towards the bathrobes that were lying next to the door; it would only make me feel more nauseous. I just turned my eyes away and let her pass, through the door, back to safety.

"_The next performance will be interesting, I can tell you. Please welcome our newest employee William!"_ I could hear being announced as music started to play.

I could feel my body freeze, my stomach turning and my guilt being bigger then ever.

I didn't know what to do. My mind went blank and I just stood there, as if frozen. But I knew I couldn't be standing here forever and slowly but surely my feet started moving, as if someone else but my was controlling my body. The spotlights that were pointed at me made me feel even more self-conscious.

For a moment I just walked awkward from behind the curtains, and looked for something to focus on. _Anything but the people in front of the stage…_

In the distance I could see some shining bottles filled with god-knows-what alcoholic drink, and decided I should fix my eyes on that part of the room.

I could feel people look at me, almost undressing me with just _watching _me, and it scared me. But I still continued walking up to the front of the stage, after all that was what I was supposed to do for them, right? Undress…

As I started walking I slowly tried making my moves more smooth, more sexy. I felt disgusting by doing so, but I knew that's what the people wanted to see. I kept walking slow to keep the actual moment as far away as possible, and walked along the several objects put at the front of the stage.

There were small objects and bigger ones, some I even didn't know what to do with, but I figured it was the easiest to go for the pole, since that was one I actually _did _know where it was for.

I started walking around the pole now, slowly rising my hand to grab it. Once I got hold of it I kept walking in circles but then, right before starting the fourth round around it, I pulled myself to the pole.

I felt nasty, slimy and _disgusting._

My mind thought back to my dad, who was now probably being mad about where I was and that I didn't make him diner. I thought back to my mum, about how ashamed she was now about her youngest son. I thought back to the friends I saw in my dreams that had warned me this was a bad idea. I thought back at the few friends I had and how they would react. I thought about Alfred.

Alfred, the one person in my life that always seemed to be happy and tried to cheer me up whenever I was sad. Alfred, the one who actually cared about me, the one who had taught me how to play football, who had admired my drawings, who I had hurt so much by not telling him the truth.

"_Ya don't trust me, do ya?"_ he'd asked me with a somewhat hurt expression on his face. I had told him I trusted him, but that again was a lie. Just like so many other lies before about my life.

"_Ya don't trust me, do ya?" _his voice kept circling in my head as I started taking off my shirt now. I could hear some cheering come from far away, but I ignored them. I didn't want to hear them, I didn't want to see them.

I started to turn around the pole by grabbing it with one hand an leaning to the side of the stage. Even though I felt numb I could still notice how several pieces of paper –probably money- were being shoved into the boarders of some of the parts of clothing I still had on.

I started the generous, rich men in the eyes but didn't feel a thing. I had shut myself away from this world, not wanting to experience it more then was necessary to perform. My expression had become pokerfaced as I slowly pulled myself back to the pole again, starting to move around it, this time the other way.

"_Ya don't trust me, do ya?"_ the voice kept running through my head as I put my back to the pole and started sliding down.

From there on I just went into autopilot. I didn't remember a thing of what happened, I didn't _want _to remember, but I do know I was happy when it was over.

The music had stopped, I had walked off stage, not bothering to stay there any longer then necessary, and grabbed one of the bathrobes that were laying behind the black curtains.

It didn't seem like there was a new girl waiting to get up stage, which made me wonder if I were the last performer. I decided I couldn't care less, and just made my way back through the door, down the hall, towards the room where I'd left my cloths.

I didn't meet anyone I knew on my way there, and just changed as quick as possible. I felt disgusting and all I wanted was just go back home and curl myself into my blankets, pretending this evening never took place.

But before I did so I would first have to drop by the office to get my money; I wouldn't left without it, then I'd have humiliated myself for nothing.

I collected all the pieces of paper I had gotten, not caring about the amount yet, and walked off to the door which said 'Office' and gave a quick knock.

"Yes, enter," a voice called and I did what I was told. The same man with sunglasses as I met the first time was sitting there, behind his desk, already counting the money.

"Came to pick up your pay check, didn't you?" he asked me with a grin. I just nodded, not in the mood for much interaction, "Now now, don't be so nervous! You should cheer up a bit, Willy-boy," he continued, deciding it was a fun name. I hated it, it sounded disgusting, just like I felt.

"I'm just tired," I mumbled, not wanting for him to keep talking but just paying me.

"Well then, you better go home soon. You have to be here tomorrow after all… Oh and here's your pay check. People were very fond of you so I expect even more to be paid tomorrow. You really are a great employee,"

I just grabbed the money he was holding out and made my way to the door, saying a quick 'Thank you' and 'Good night' as I walked off, through the door of the office, down the hall and out of the backdoor onto the cold and dark streets.

I decided to take the safer route then I had taken the first time, since I now had a lot of money on me. Suzy and Ann had told me about several routes that were rather safe to use.

I arrived home soon, since it turned out I was still on time to catch the last bus, but didn't feel like doing anything but sleep, forget about today pretending it never happened, even though I would never forget this.

I just changed into my pyjamas and lay down n my bed. I was glad I already finished my homework earlier that day. I don't remember when, but eventually I managed to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>Today it was Saturday and the rain had been pouring down ever since early morning.<p>

The past few days were just as miserable as the weather, with me going to my new job and the still unfixed friendship with Alfred.

I still felt guilty, but I knew that if I were to say sorry he would only meddle into my life even more then he already did. I didn't want for him to do so, and therefore I decided he should be the one to say sorry to me instead, even though I knew that was wrong.

The past day at my job had been awkward. I still wasn't used to it, but I noticed that as soon as I got onto stage I managed to make myself numb, pretending this was just a dream, and got on with it.

After all, the money I got really did pile up fast. I didn't knew the exact amount at the moment, but it was definitely over three thousand already even though I just had three days of work done. It seemed the tips really did add a lot to it.

Over the past few days I started to recognise some of the other people who worked around there, though nobody really interacted much. People preferred to be left alone, only talking when necessary.

This night as well had gone well enough for a good sum of money. The past few days though I've seen this one man around a lot. He seems to be watching my every move, but when I asked Ann she told me she didn't know him either. It seemed he was a new customer, and he paid quite well. It wasn't rare that some customers liked only one of the employees, it turned out most of the girls around here had some regulars. I figured I shouldn't worry too much about it since after all, all I was told to do was stripping only, so I decided I should continue changing. But before I actually got the chance to change and ask for my money there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I answered, still wearing the bathrobe but starting to take my normal cloths out of my sports bag to wear them.

The man with glasses, who I now knew called himself 'John' though I highly doubt is his real name, entered and closed the door afterwards.

It was silent for a moment but then John started to speak up.

"Say, I've been thinking, Willy-boy, and I've decided it's about time you check out upstairs sometime, and therefore, what time is better then tonight? It's not like you have any school or work tomorrow, so you'll have time enough to sleep," he said casually, "You can pick up your money up there, it's even higher then the days before,"

I just stared at him, but then nodded and said I'd check it out. I'd finally know what was upstairs, but I hoped it wouldn't be something I would regret.

Taking my bag with cloths and my umbrella with me, I walked up the small staircase. As I arrived on the second floor, I noticed how empty, yet luxurious this hall was.

Downstairs the walls weren't well-kept and there wasn't any decoration. The doors also were old and some weren't even lockable, and the only doors out were to the stage or the back alley. Upstairs it was a whole different situation; the walls were painted in a nice, dark colour and the doors also were well kept. The door at the end of the hall lead towards what I suspected was a staircase leading to the bar downstairs.

"Just search for room 12, the money will be there," he'd said

I did find it a bit suspicious, but I needed to get the money, so I figured I'd just grab it an then get away from here, back to home again.

I walked down the hall, searching for the right room, and as I found it I stood still in front of it.

I had a bad feeling in my stomach, as if it was trying to get me to run away from it, but my brain made me think properly. It's just for the money, right? Grab the money, go away and go home. No big deal.

As I kept assuring myself it would be okay, I now pushed down the handle and opened the door slowly. It seemed like the room was dark, and there was only one window on the other side of the room. The rain was still pouring down and ticking onto the window as the light from the moon shone through the thin curtain that hung in front of it.

The moon was bright enough to show a small part of the room, and thus I entered, leaving the door open. I searched for the switch to switch on the light but was stopped by a loud sound that sounded very much like a door that's been closed.

With a bad feeling in my stomach I turned around. Slowly, wishing for it to just be my imagination, hoping for anything but _the door being closed._

Bad luck, again, for me. The door was closed and in front of it was a big, rich-looking man. I wanted to scream, let someone know I was trapped, but I couldn't since the man now grabbed onto me, pushing me backwards onto something soft, which I thought was a bed, and kept my mouth shut.

"Well, well, you're finally here. Now don't struggle, I've paid quit a lot for you. Just be a good boy, and do as I say," the man said to me.

All I could feel was panic rushing through me. I should've know form the start this was bad. I should've know this would happen, I should've know this man wasn't right as he kept staring.

_But it is too late already, I thought…_

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Omg Artie, WE TOLD YOU YOU SHOULD'VE RAN AWAY! XD hahah but really people, FLUFF WILL BE THERE SOON… soon… soon ;D_

_So yay I finished this chapter that seemed to take like ages… well I've been writing at it for 4 hours straight! Be grateful xD haha_

_I don't have much to announce, really. I just hope you enjoyed, reviews are VERY VERY VERY VERY DEARLY MOST ULTIMATELY LOVED and look forward to the next chapter._

_I hope I didn't fail too bad at the stripping part, I'm not good at writing hardcore stuff, and the M rating was just meant so people were warned, not to make it hardcore. I just cant do it._

_Yeah police outfit cuz Iggy would look damn right sexy in it, and we all know so. Why not waiter outfit? Well, that's because then he as nothing to strip out of. xD_

_My hands kill me even more then yesterday. Seriously people, this week ive been uploading more then I normally upload in a month! No wonder my hand hurt XD all of my evenings go to you guys, since its then that I write._

_I hope you enjoyed!_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(07/24/11)_


	10. Chapter 10

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 10

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Someone tell me why I always end up procrastinating when I just wrote a cliffy?<p>

Oh and ever since I decided to have this ebb from a mandarin grow into a bonsai, I have to water it by using a spray bottle… and I end up spraying everything around me. I've always have a spray bottle fetish. /shot

OFF WE GO, LITTLE FELLA'S (wait does anyone else here watch Horrible Histories? Please tell me you do, otherwise search for New Victorian Child and stuff about WW1 HHstyle and all. It's worth it; epic Hetalia crack, asides from it being awesome crack on itself. THANK YOU IGGY FOR MAKING THAT STUFF XD)

WHY AM I TALKING? I SHOULD WRITE

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><p>I could feel how his hands tried to undress me, for how much more of me there was to undress, while I could reek the alcohol from his mouth as he tried to lock our lips together.<p>

The oh so familiar smell of alcohol. It made me sick.

I tried to push him away, trying to get out of it, but he was too strong. I tried to kick him in his stomach, but he knew how to keep me down and he knew how to keep me quiet.

He almost choked me before and only when I was out of breath he'd let go, kiss me and then when I started showing signs of screaming, he'd do it again.

Suddenly I could smell the alcohol even more then before, and before I knew it he tried to make me drink some very alcoholic drink. I couldn't even recognise it.

"Now, drink this boy, you'll feel better," he said while still keeping me down. At least he was less touchy at the moment, but now I almost choked in the liquid that was forced down my throat.

"Le- uhg," I tried to make him stop, "Let me- ugh- g-go!" I tried to struggle again, and for a moment the man seemed to be somewhat taken back by my struggling, but not soon after he just continued.

I could feel him grab my nose, making sure that I could only breath through my mouth, and that way he forced me to drink it. It burnt in my throat and I could feel it take effect.

This was the type of alcohol you wouldn't drink a whole bottle from, but only a few sips.

I decided to stop struggling. I don't know where the idea came from but I decided to calm down, make him stop forcing me to drink the liquid, and pretend if I was wasted enough from it.

The man seemed a bit suspicious at first, but soon decided he shouldn't take too long in case I might pass out, and soon he started kissing me again.

He started grabbing me around my waist, kissing my collarbones and working his way down. I could feel how I because nauseous from it all, but I let it happen for now. I had to wait for the right moment.

The man seemed to now be fully absorbed into devouring me and I decided it was the right moment. With a quick hit to the nose by my knee, the guy sat up. Before he could realise what happened I kicked him again, this time straight into his stomach.

I made a quick das out of the bed, but before I could reach the door, he grabbed my arm. He stopped me and pulled me back, face down onto the bed again.

He started to turn my arm upwards on my back. It hurt incredibly much and soon I stopped struggling again. Also I could feel how I started becoming dizzy from the sudden movements combined with alcohol.

Without saying a thing the man now grabbed my other arm and turned me around, so I was now lying on my back. He started to hover over me.

"Don't run boy, don't run. You don't know what I might do when I lose my temper,"

The man scared me more every second I was with him.

He tried to pull down my pants now, while still kissing me. _Bad idea from him._

Again, I kicked him, this time in much more sensitive parts of his body and then his head. He started to curl up in pain, but I couldn't care less. With a quick dash I grabbed my sports bag and unlocked the door. Not even bothering to look back to where the _arsehole _was lying, I made my way down the hall, towards the small stairs, and through the back door.

Only after I ran a few streets further I started to care about my appearance.

Right now I looked like some maniac; all I wore were my underwear and a bathrobe while clenching onto my sports bag as if it was my life.

It was still pouring down as a shower, and I could feel how the water had made its way straight through the warm and soft fabric of the bathrobe, making it cold and sticky.

My sports bag included my usual cloths, but I couldn't care less about putting them on. My shoes seemed to be the only items I'd forgotten while running away, and therefore I now stood aside the road, with bare feet and only a bathrobe and underwear as cloths. _Could my life become any more miserable?_

I could feel how tears started to form in my eyes. Soon I knew they started to fall down my cheeks and onto the ground or my cloths, but you couldn't see; it was all washed away by the rain.

The rain. A perfect example of how I was feeling now. Not the way Alfred had described though. This time it was the purely miserable part of me, crying it's heart out while all that surrounded it was darkness.

Darkness and a few cold streetlights that barely gave enough light to see where you were walking.

I decided to at least put on my trousers before I should continue walking.

I didn't know where to go really. All I knew was that I wanted to go away from here, hide, and be somewhere save.

A frown formed onto my face, keeping back the tears, as I started walking down the road. Sometimes I could feel myself become dizzy and once I even threw up, both from misery and the alcohol.

I wasn't able to take the bus looking like this and smelling like alcohol, so I decided to walk instead. Also I didn't want to call anyone, in case they would suspect anything and I'd be in trouble.

I could feel how the small, lose stones on the road bored into my feet after a while. Life had been the most miserable this evening, and on top of that I didn't even get the money tonight. Not like I was ever going back again.

_I will have to get money in a different way_.

The only thing lucky, I decided, this evening was being able to escape from being raped by some drunk, perverted man. But that was it.

The rain kept pouring down, making the sidewalk slippery as it ran down the tiles to the gutter. I felt just like that; falling down from a height and when thinking I reached the very deepest part of life, I was washed away to fall and drown even further.

Without knowing why I suddenly stopped walking. I looked up.

My eyes met with a familiar baby-blue door which was attached to a friendly looking house, even though all lights were switched off.

It was Alfred's house.

But it didn't seem like there was anyone awake or even there. I knew Alfred would not go to sleep this early, he always stayed up late to play videogames or read one of those American comics, but this time the house looked as if the owners had left it.

Not wanting to walk on with the pain in my feet, I leant against a small wall that served as some kind of fence, and slid down.

By now I didn't even feel like crying anymore. I just didn't feel anything.

_How could this happen? How could I have been so stupid? How am I ever going to pay this depth? _

Thoughts kept running through my mind as I started to curl up and put my arms around my own legs, letting the rain pour down so my hair almost got into my eyes and my fingers started to become numb from cold.

_What will my brothers think? And my dad? Would he even care, or would he think it'd be better without me? Would someone even miss me?_

I let my head fall forward and kept it resting against my knees.

_Would the people at school also not care? What would Alfred do if he found me here? I look like some psycho stalker, I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate. After all I told him not to ca-…_

"Artie?"

I looked up, meeting with the sky blue eyes I was just thinking about. The blue that shone so brilliantly even in this dark night filled with miserable feelings. The blue that could cheer you up with just looking at it, the blue that kept all emotion the owner felt in them. They could show it to the world so perfectly. That one particular blue you could never forget.

I just stared. I didn't bother to do anything else.

Alfred seemed to just get back from football practise; filled with mud, sports bag and his usual bomber jacked loosely onto his shoulders. He also stared back.

"A-Artie what happened?" Alfred now asked. I couldn't bring myself I tell him. I wanted to, but I didn't know where to start or where to get the energy to even start talking.

"C'mon Artie, lemme get ya inside, ya'll catch a cold or somethin' if ya stay outside," Alfred said in a bit of panic. I couldn't blame the boy, I must have looked like I had no energy to live anymore –since I felt like that.

While I was still half captivated by my own thoughts I could suddenly feel how Alfred tugged off the bathrobe, as it was already lose from my shoulders, and I could feel something warm replacing it.

I could smell the one particular smell that just fitted Alfred; a bit of musk, some sweat and a boy's cologne. It was his bomber jacket.

"C'mon Artie, don't tel me yer sick or somethin'? Seriously come inside," he started dragging me to the door at my arm, I just followed him.

He quickly opened the door after he found the right key, and dragged me inside. He closed the door behind me as I stood there, dripping from water straight onto the door mat.

"First go change, yer gonna catch a cold for real, 'nd ya don't wanna get a fever, now do ya?" I let him lead me upstairs, not caring about what happened to me. I just kept feeling miserable, though already a bit better, knowing someone actually _did_ care of me.

Alfred now grabbed some fresh pair of cloths – a sweatpants and a warm-looking hoody- from out of his closet and walked back to me. I was slowly starting to change and Alfred just waited. He seemed to for once read the mood and let me take my time for once.

He then remembered to grab a towel for both me and himself (his hair was soaked after the small trip through he rain) and threw one of them on my head as he noticed I finished changing.

I wanted to grab the towel to dry my hair, but before I could do so I felt how it was already getting muffled through my hair, making my hair messier then it ever was before.

I could feel how a warmth spread from my heart through my whole body and a small blush crept onto my cheeks. I was glad the towel hid me from Alfred seeing it.

"Lets get back downstairs, 'kay?" Alfred asked, walking towards the door while dragging me with him, "Wanna have some tea? Ya always want tea, right?"

I nodded. I was glad he was taking care of me, it was exactly what I needed now.

He let me sit down on the couch, pointing out where some blanket was laying in case I felt cold, and ran off to the kitchen to quickly make some tea and fetch some snacks.

I curled up in the corner of the couch, noticing I should have to tell him. Tell Alfred, my best friend, about what happened. But before I could think it all through Alfred was back with some crisps, tea and a soda for himself.

He sat down next to me. Carefully, as if I would break if he was too rough. We sat there for a while, both silent, until Alfred couldn't stop his curiosity from taking over.

"So… Uhm… What's goin' on, I can tell somethin' really hurt ya, 'nd I wont let ya walk away now. I want to know the truth," I was surprised by his sudden seriousness, and turned my head towards facing him. But as soon as I looked into his eyes I was lost.

Lost from the world. Lost from all my boundaries. Both the alcohol and the bad feeling started to take their toll from me, and without realising I started to cry.

Cry as if I were some girl. Normally I'd be ashamed, would have ran away, and would hate myself for showing such weakness. But this time it felt good. I knew I could trust Alfred and that he would listen to me, he would understand me and that he would help me.

I told him about everything. From my time when my mother was still alive, to when my brothers somewhat started taking care of me. About how my dad got addicted to alcohol and about him becoming violent. I told him about the loan sharks, the depth and the club. I told him about my experience last night. I told him everything.

He just listened, and at one point even wrapped his arm around me. For some reason it didn't feel weird. If felt comfortable, actually, and it felt as if it belonged there and should always be there.

When finished talking I just sobbed and I could feel how Alfred was thinking of how to comfort me. He was never very skilled in this, but I knew that whatever he'd do I'd appreciate it. It would definitely make me happy.

Suddenly, without a sound, I could feel a second arm being put around me, and I could feel how I was pulled into a strong, yet gentle hug.

It felt warm and safe. It felt like what I needed, what I'd always wanted. I just continued sobbing into Alfred's shoulder as he started stroking my hair. I felt the well-know blush flow onto my head as a pleasant, almost tinkling feeling spread through my body.

"I wont let ya go back there again. My mum's to Canada so ya can stay here without havin' to tell anyone else," he told me. Suddenly he pushed me back a bit and put one of his hands onto my forehead. It was only then that I realised I was feeling not only warm from the hug, "Ya've got I fever, I knew it. Tomorrow's Sunday so ya should stay here, 'nd we'll see when ya're better, but once ya are we're goin' to the police. Ya can't let this be,"

I just nodded. I didn't feel like I had much energy left after the stressful days and evening and after crying my heart out.

"Go sleep now," Alfred said, dragging me along upstairs. He opened his room and let me lay down on his bed. I quickly fell asleep, not knowing what would happen. Not even caring, really. I just wanted to sleep, let my thoughts float away, and let my heart calm down from all emotions.

But I could swear I felt the bed move as if someone else was laying down. I was too sleepy to care.

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Yay? XD trololol FLUFFTIME xD finally after all the drama… but LE DRAMA isn't over yet ;D aww Alfy is so sweet._

_Okay sorry for short chapter but I was running out of time and I was procrastinating all the way and I mean, I've written so much lately, give me a break ;A;_

_Well I did fit in all I wanted to fit in. normally I'd have written on, but I didn't feel too well this morning, though it improved over the day, but I still have a bit of a headache._

_I will try writing on asap, but I can never really tell when it will be uploaded XD_

_Ah and I'm so happy. Today I actually looked through my English class books, and it contains stuff about books I read, and some weird poetry, and it tells about the school system and the justice system and it had this article about British people being disliked in holiday countries (FFF I DON'T DISLIKE YOU GUYS, COME TO NL XD) and uuhm they kept talking about how the ALCHOL (since pubs have no time limits there) and the SUN and the TASTY FOOD made people a bit too happy? XD I dunno it just fitted so well with iggy xD aww but whatever_

_And omg there was this list from 5 influent full British bands/songs and there were the sex pistols! :D *fan, yes, thank you iggy* and jkfgnjkfd BLACK ADDER as one of the best TV series, and there's more. And seems like I did well by reading all these English books over the last 2 years, since we're gonna have to read some. And I already read them XD sometimes I love my nerd-side._

_Trololol rambling :D_

_Oh yeah and to one of the ANYMOUS REVIEWERS; hahah she told me how her brother was named William Brooks XD lol sorry the name was chosen out of random xD but that review made me really happy XD though all reviews make me happy really…_

_Okay NEXT CHAPTER ASAP, WOHOOO XD_

_Byee! :D_

_p.s. yesterday it was the same day only in 1581 that we Dutch got independent from Spain. We stayed 'The United Netherlands' until 1795 when Napoleon invaded NL, but after he lost his power here in 1806, we got back to 'The United Royal Netherlands' though after countries like Belgium (1810) and such splitting up, eventually we became 'The Royal Netherlands' in 1830 until present day xD wohoo some Dutch history I know thanks to Hetalia, since school doesn't teach you anything XD_

_oh and I'm looking forward to a party I have 7__th__ of august… a day before my brother turns 18 :D _

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(07/27/11)_

_OMG ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU; THANKS FOR OVER 100 REVIEWS! IT'S INCREDIBLE ;A; I HAVE TEARS OF HAPPINESS  
><em>


	11. Chapter 11

nonbeta

* * *

><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 11

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Sorry for the short chapter last time, and for not updating yesterday. I was feeling a bit ill. But now I'm all better again, I'm ready to write on! Enjoy! :D<p>

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><p>I woke up with a bit of a pain in my neck. I slept pretty well, so well actually that it took me a little while before realising what had happened yesterday, but now I was awake I noticed that I'd lain somewhat cramped, sharing a little-bigger-then-one-person bed with someone.<p>

And it wasn't just someone. It was Alfred.

I felt at peace, to be honest. At first I was a bit shocked to wake up and seeing Alfred's collarbones the first thing in morning, but as soon as I moved away I felt my head hurt. It had to be either the alcohol or the fever. Or both.

But eventually I decided to lie back down again, trying to make as little movements as possible so the other boy wouldn't wake up and see me this flustered. That would be right out embarrassing.

I lay my head back down on Alfred's arm that was covering half of the pillow, while his other arm –and leg I noticed now- were sprawled all over me.

_Really, could he sleep any more embarrassing?_

I didn't really caught a deep sleep again, I somewhat hovered between consciousness and sleeping.

Right now, at this moment, I didn't want to care about anything around me but the current situation. I felt at peace, and it's been a while since I felt so comfortable. Talking to Alfred really had helped me, though the somewhat miserable feeling didn't fully left me yet. And it didn't really feel like it'd be gone soon.

But just knowing there was someone who looked after you, who actually cared for you and who would do their very best to keep you safe… it gave a good feeling.

I was starting to fall away in a very light sleep again until I could feel some movement from the body next to me. I looked up towards Alfred's face, and I could see him blink his eyes for a bit, trying to realise if this was either reality or if he was still dreaming.

He suddenly bent his head down, looking at me with a small grin on his sleepy face. I stared back with wide eyes of embarrassment.

It was weird. I somehow got a weird feeling in my stomach, it was a bit tinkling and nice, but still weird. I looked down. Or at least as far down as possible, which made me face Alfred's collarbones and chest once again. I could feel a light blush spread on my face.

_Damn blush, can't it ever go away?_

"Mornin'," I could hear him say. My blush darkened.

"Good morning," I replied. I didn't really know what to do. I felt embarrassed about the whole situation, but I couldn't really be mad at him. Not after he made me feel so at ease.

"Wanna have some breakfast?" he asked while already starting to move so he could get up, "Ya feel really warm, I think yer still havin' a fever. Just lie down, okay, I'll be back in a few," he said when I didn't give an answer, and I could feel how the warm and masculine arm got removed from under my head and being replaced by a soft pillow. I saw Alfred walk away and he's already walked through the door before I could say or think anything else.

I now was alone. I just lied there, some thoughts came flowing in my mind, but I didn't care. I didn't _want _to care. Problems could wait for later; right now I really wanted to keep this peaceful feeling.

It didn't take long until Alfred was back. He'd brought food for both of us. Well, practically he just brought a whole pre-sliced bread, different types of spreads and a cup tea for me, while having a glass with milk for himself.

He put it down on the floor next to the bed, and therefore I was grateful. After all, it didn't feel too well to move a lot with the headache and the bruises that rapist had given me.

"Here, let's first eat somethin'. Afterwards ya can take a shower or somethin', whatever ya want," Alfred said, sitting down on the floor in front of the bed while grabbing a slice of bread for himself. He then grabbed the peanut butter and spread it all over the bread.

I sat up a bit in the bed, my head a bit dizzy from the movement, and then also grabbed a slice, and some jam. We just ate, sometimes Alfred would say something to kind of break the silence, but overall it felt nice and comfortable.

I didn't really have much of an appetite, that wasn't really special, but Alfred seemed to eat even more then usual.

"Heroes haveta get their energy from _somethin'_," I figured he's said as he saw me staring, "Lay back down, I'm gonna take care of yer injuries in a minute,"

"I don't need you to help with them. It's okay, really, they will heal on themselves," I tried to keep him from it, but he was in his usual stubborn hero-mode.

"No way, man! I'm gonna take care of ya now I know what's goin' on!" he said, "And besides, we really need to talk 'bout some stuff,"

I looked back at him. I didn't want to talk, actually. It was embarrassing enough I'd cried yesterday and he already helped me out a lot, I didn't want to worry him anymore then I already did.

I looked down.

"I…don't want to talk," I murmured under my breath, not sure if he could hear it or not.

Alfred looked up for a bit but then decided not to say anything. Soon he finished eating his last slice of bread and gulped down a whole glass of milk in one breath. He then went downstairs again to put the dishes away.

I decided to go to the toilet for a bit. I still could feel my head being somewhat dizzy, and I had to be careful not to lose my balance, but I managed to make my way down the hall and into the bathroom. While walking I could feel my feet hurt, after the long walk on the gruff pavement.

After I went to the toilet, I decided to splash some fresh water in my face, seeing if I could some of the misty feeling in my head by doing so. It worked.

I made my way down the hall again and into Alfred's room, only to fall down to the bed, feeling completely exhausted.

_Who would've thought you could get so tired from such a little walk if you had a fever._

As I was trying to get the blankets covering me again, Alfred entered the room, now having a first-aid kit with him instead of a tray full of food.

"Ya wanna take a shower first before I bandage yer injuries?" he asked.

"No, I'm not feeling well enough to do so, I'll shower later," I said. Actually I did feel like taking a shower, but seeing how difficult it was to not lose balance because of dizziness, I figured it wouldn't be any better with a wet and slippery floor. And I didn't want to feel any more embarrassed.

"'Kay, better take of yer shirt," Alfred said, walking up to me. I could feel my cheeks heat up a bit, but still pulled off the hoody I was still wearing. It felt kind of refreshing, since the hoody had become somewhat sweaty. Alfred started to look through the kit to find the bandages he needed.

When he found them he walked up to me again, a gentle grin on his face. _Who knew he could be this gentle… only if he wants to he can be so sweet…-wait what?_

But before I could think more about what kind of weird thoughts had flown into my mind Alfred started to put some disinfectant and healing salve on some parts of my back and side, I wondered if he were really experienced enough to do this.

"Have you ever done this before?" I asked him, a bit nervous. _Why was I so nervous?_

"Dude, c'mon I've been playin' sports all my life, it's not like I didn't get any injuries," he said with a smile in his voice, "I promise I'll do it right and gentle," he added with a nice and soft voice.

It kept surprising me to see that the obnoxious American also had a soft and gentle side to him. I could very much appreciate it though…

"And, Artie, we really need to talk," he added. I could feel my stomach drop.

This was what I had wanted to avoid. I didn't want to talk, I had no idea what to say and I didn't want any more embarrassing situations. He shouldn't bother so much, I would be able to fix things by myself, only if he let me to do so…

"Artie, ya really have to tell the police. I know ya don't wanna and I know you wanna fix it on yer own, but ya can't. And I wont let ya hurt yerself any more," he was now staring into my eyes. His sky blue ones looked straight to my own emerald green ones, right into my mind it seemed, "I mean it, Artie, this is bad, it's not the thing to do, and I'm a hero I can tell and-" he continued trying to convince me as I kept silent, but I interrupted.

"I know Alfred. Just…" _Just what? Just what did I want?_

I sighed.

"Just… Let me talk this over with my dad first. I want to have a conversation wit him before I do so, afterwards I will tell the police, I promise," I told him. I really felt like Alfred might be right, I might really should tell the police and make it easier on myself.

I know I'd normally have said I'd want to try it at least _one more_ time, but after almost getting raped yesterday –the thought made me shiver- it shook me awake. I wasn't able to get out of this by myself, not with all the problems with the loan sharks and my dad not being able to help nor support me. I didn't know anything better to do then to listen to Alfred and tell the police and whoever else I had to tell.

"It's okay, I can understand ya wanna talk with yer dad first, but it's really the best thing to do," Alfred said, gently brushing some of my bangs aside with his hand. It was only then I noticed I had tears in my eyes again. I quickly tried to wipe them away.

"I'm tired," I said, trying to change the subject, "I'm going to sleep some more,"

"Sure, go ahead. I'll try find some fresher shirt for ya. I'll put it on the desk, 'kay?" he asked me. I nodded and gave him a somewhat sad yet grateful smile. _I was lucky having a friend like him._

I lied my head onto the pillow, facing the wall and my back towards the door, and I soon could feel how sleep took over and my mind went off to the land of dreams again.

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><p>When I woke up again the room was empty and the curtains were closed, even though they still let through a bit of light.<p>

It seemed to be noon, around four to be precise, and I felt like going downstairs for a bit, see what Alfred was doing now. And thus I was now walking down the stairs as I could hear Alfred's voice coming from the kitchen. It sounded as if he was talking to someone.

"No, really mom, he's okay now," Alfred said, seems like he talked to his mum through the phone, "Yeah, I know mom, I won't let him starve!" Alfred seemed a bit annoyed by his over-worried mother.

I walked further down the stairs, trying not to make too much sound as I made my way to the kitchen. Alfred saw me.

"Hey, gotta hang mom, Artie's awake," he quickly said, "Yeah I get it, I get it, just stop worryin', bye!" and then he hang up.

"Glad to see yer feelin' better," he said, a bit embarrassed about his mum's worry, "Sorry 'bout that, she can be so overprotective," he mumbled.

"It's okay, I'm glad she cares so much about us," I replied. Then we stood there for a bit, silently.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Alfred suddenly asked, trying to let the somewhat tense atmosphere go away. I nodded.

We then made our way to the sofa in the living room and Alfred grabbed a film from the big pile next to the TV.

"Ya okay with '_Back to the Future'_,Artie?" I nodded. It was actually one of the few American Sci-Fi films that I enjoyed. I'd even seen a DeLorean in real life once.

I remembered how excited I was; normally I wasn't as much into cars as the other boys around me, but knowing there were only about seven on the whole earth was just… Stunning.

I already knew the plot, and therefore it wasn't as exciting as the first time I saw the film, but it made me feel happy.

Alfred once paused the film to get us some crisps and something to drink, which I highly appreciated since I was kind of thirsty myself, but returned soon after.

He sat down next to me, a little closer then before –probably he didn't even notice it himself- and pressed the play-button on the remote and the film continued.

I hugged my knees while sitting on the sofa, it felt a bit chilly after all. I shivered and then could feel Alfred move a bit, laying his arm on the back of the sofa.

Or so I thought.

Suddenly I felt something warm on my shoulder opposite from Alfred, and soon I was pulled aside, right into Alfred's chest.

"What do you think you're doing, you gi-,"

"Calm down, Artie. Ya just looked cold, and this'll warm ya up!"

_Was this guy really so oblivious? Didn't he know anything about personal space? _

But even though I felt awkward and embarrassed, I didn't pull away. The boy was right, it was nice and warm, it felt good actually. I could feel my face heat by these thoughts, but still I couldn't stop myself.

I didn't really catch the rest of the film. All I could notice was Alfred's heart beat and his calm, yet rhythmic breathing…

_It made me feel happy and at ease…_

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Omg omg Back to the Future omg XD yay it's one of the few movies I, myself, actually enjoy that are like that xD it might be a bit of an awkward choice, but I couldn't think of anything else…_

_And yay I've seen a DeLorean for real. My mum told me there's only about 7 orz in the world? Someone in our village owned one… They are made of pure titanium from covers and stuff. And it's got awesome doors of awesomeness._

_Sorry if it was awkward, that's just a part of me, the author, adding in it XD yeah I can't help but put personal stuff into my stories._

_And wow…that last part…I dunno it just happened? I just wrote it down? But yay a chapter filled with fluff :D next chapter will contain drama again._

_Yes this chapter was shorter then expected, but I really got tired of writing :P I really feel like watching Back to the Future now I've written about it :/ It's been at least a year ago that I watched it…:/_

_Yay if I'm lucky I will get my ear pierced tomorrow? Let me be lucky, let me be lucky . *prays to Britannia Angel*_

_I hope you enjoyed? Sorry if it was a bit of an awkward chapter :/ I dunno just happened._

_Byee! :D_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_And I do not own the movie or car (sadly ;A;)_

_(07/29/11)_

_P.s. Alfred uses such lame excuses for hugging his very favourite Britton 3_


	12. Chapter 12

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 12

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Yay instead of writing at HwRT I decided to write for ICL just because I felt like it. I just finished replying about half of my 100+ comments, and they keep being replied XD I love it though, it just takes so much time, even have some from April since they were so long ;A; well anyways, off we go :P this will probably be an important chapter, and sorry if it'll be short, I want to stop at a certain cliffy :P shot

Oh and I want to thank everyone for liking and favouriting my very first oneshot :D I didn't expect it to be liked so much!

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><p>By now it was Monday, and Alfred had decided we'd both take off a day from school. Mainly because I still had a fever, and Alfred insisted on taking care of me… which I found kind of <em>nice <em>from him, though I'd not admit it.

"Hey, Artie, time to wake up," I heard from a voice above me. As I opened my eyes I noticed that Alfred was hovering over me as I was lying on the sofa. I didn't remember falling asleep, but that was probably since it was so nice and _warm_ yesterday…

The thought of Alfred somewhat hugging me made me blush. I didn't really know what to think of it; I liked it, but it also made me nervous and I didn't know how to react. But it seemed Alfred had no problems with it all, and thus I decided to pretend I didn't have either.

I grumbled a bit, wiping the sleep from my eyes, and sitting up. A blanket fell off me, and I recognised it as the blanket that Alfred had told me about last night. I wondered if he'd slept on the sofa as well, or if he'd slept in his own room. I had somewhat twisted feelings about what I would've wanted.

"Hey, c'mon Artie, even if yer sick ya should try bein' active," Alfred said again, now walking to the kitchen, "I'm glad to see yer almost better now. We'll go to yer dad as soon as yer fully healed, this mess better be fixed as soon as possible," he started messing around in the counters now, grabbing everything that was needed for breakfast.

I gave a small sigh.

"When will your mum be back?" I asked him, watching him move around in the kitchen, now his back faced me.

"Hmm she'd be gone for 'bout two weeks, 'nd she left 'round four days ago," Alfred replied, still busy with preparing breakfast, "But she said ya can stay here as long as ya need," he added.

I nodded and looked at the floor, even though he couldn't see it. When I looked back up I saw him approaching, having several items, differing from plates to milk, stored on a tray making his way to where I was sitting on the sofa.

"Let's turn on the TV," Alfred said, immediately grabbing the remote to switch on his favourite channel. Or well, I expected it to be his favourite channel since it showed some over-heroic superhero animation series. I rolled my eyes over it, but it seemed Alfred didn't notice.

"So what do ya wanna do today, we've got the time all to ourselves," Alfred said, grabbing some bread and milk while keeping his eyes focussed on the screen as much as possible.

"Uuhm," the question came a bit out of the blue, and I hadn't decided yes what I wanted to do today. I didn't really want to do much else but just sitting in the house, maybe play some football at the park if I'd feel a bit better, and maybe some drawing or reading. Just the things I liked to do, but I was sure Alfred would think it was dull.

"Well, something relaxing?" I suggested, not wanting him to start whining about 'reading being boring' or 'videogames are more educational'.

The git probably didn't even own books.

"Makes no sense, Artie," he replied, still focussed on the screen, "just say what ya want," he now turned his head so he was facing me, making sure I didn't make any excuses.

Eventually I admitted I wanted to read or draw, when I was thinking about relaxing. Alfred, of course, thought this was boring and insisted on playing at least three videogames, saying otherwise he'd 'die from boredom'.

I just agreed. After all, who was I to deny him fun after he'd taken care of me so well.

So, we eventually ended up playing videogames. Alfred won most of the times, but I already expected that. I didn't even try beating him.

It all went well in my opinion, until Alfred finally noticed I barely did a thing with my controller.

"Hey, yer not even playin'!" he pouted, "C'mon, Artie, play it!" he started to whine.

I tried to ignore him, but I failed.

"It's not my fault I don't understand the controls!" I said to him eventually. Well, more like yelled. And it was partly true; I knew the basics, but most of the time I just kept on hitting random buttons. For the first few levels it had worked, but now it became more difficult I could find myself having problems with it. Of course I wouldn't have admitted it if it hadn't stopped Alfred from whining.

I was staring at the screen with a smug grin on my face, looking at the game character smashing random attacks in different ways, until I could feel something warm touch my hands. I completely forgot about the game and looked down.

Alfred had grabbed my ands and part of my controller, while eyes focussed on the TV screen. I just stared at him.

_Was that a small blush he got there?_

But before I could think any longer he started to talk and show me how it worked. _It was probably my imagination anyway._

"Look, ya press A for walkin' and then B for shootin', but if ya wanna have a special combo ya'll need…" he kept talking. I didn't concentrate on what he was saying though, aside from me not caring about the controls or game, it was somewhat _fascinating _to look at the boy as he was completely focussed on the game. It made me think like I could see him being himself, not caring about anything around him. It felt nice and comfortable.

The way the screen reflected into his glasses, the way his hair was partly in front of his eyes, the way his warm hands touched mine, the way these cerulean eyes were focussed on the screen…-

"Everythin' okay, Artie?" I suddenly hears him say as he quickly turned his head to face me. I didn't know what to think, I didn't know what to say. Instead I just turned my head, facing the wall and wishing my blush away.

_What was that just then? I was fully captivated by staring at him…?_

"Artie, ya seem kinda out of it. Ya fever comin' back?" Alfred now let go of my hands and the controller and leant over to me, touching my forehead in order to check my temperature.

But as he touched my head I blushed even redder. My face was nu purely scarlet.

I turned my head away again, or at least tried to, since I couldn't really turn my head any further.

Alfred leant closer, keeping a close eye on me, and I felt nervous. I was surprised when I could suddenly feel Alfred's forehead touch mine, pressing gently in order to connect them.

I gave a little shock of surprise and Alfred seemed to notice, as he suddenly stopped moving. But not for long; as soon as I turned my head to him, blushing like a tomato and a questioning expression on my face, to make sure if he was kidding or not, he suddenly moved his hands to touch my cheeks.

He cupped them, successfully keeping me from turning my head away, and slowly he started changing the angle of his head, making our lips come closer together.

_This can't be, it can't, can't, can't!_ I started to stress out in myself, but I didn't move an inch. It was as if I was under a spell; my thoughts kept saying for me to pull away, to snap out of it and come back to reality, but my body and heart told a different story;

They wanted to lean in, get closer to Alfred, touching his lips, his face, his hair. Making the beating of my heart go even faster and making the blush on my face spread even more. Making eye contact, skin contact, _anything…_

Then the moment was there. It seemed like ages with the amount of thoughts swirling through my head, but as soon as out lips touched, my mind went blank.

By now the screen said 'Game Over' but none of us cared. We just cared about each other, staring into each other's eyes, until we both slowly closed them as if it we had rehearsed it.

My mind was still blank and all I could feel, smell, taste, hear and see was Alfred.

_Alfred,_ the boy who had become my best friend in such a short time.

_Alfred, _the boy who had taken care of me the past few days as if I was the most precious treasure on earth.

_Alfred, _the boy that was now kissing me gently, making sure to pull away as soon as I started hesitating.

But I didn't hesitate.

At first I'd been stunned and been sitting still, letting him kiss me, still being in shock. But soon, as my thoughts moved away and I only noticed my feelings, I started to kiss back.

It was a soft and gentle kiss, nothing like the ones you saw on TV or read about in books. It was a kiss filled with feelings, love and understanding.

We didn't even touched each others tongue, we just kissed lips on lips. Both of us convinced not to be too hasted in case the other would not like it and let go. It was just right this way.

Eventually, after what seemed too short of a time, we moved away, both staring into each other's eyes, wondering if that was just a dream or reality.

We both sighed, not sure whether we should freak out or smile, but eventually I could feel a tight grin form at my lips. Still blushing I looked at Alfred, who was also clearly flustered.

"Uhm….S-so," Alfred tried to change the somewhat tense air, "H-how 'bout we get somthin' to drink?"

I nodded and we both walked downstairs as soon as Alfred switched off the TV. We didn't speak about it, pretending it never happened, both of us still not sure what to think of it.

That's how the rest of the day passed,; it was awkward, but since we both decided to pretend it never happened, it was liveable. The only thing different was that every time we touched or walked close we both stared into another direction, trying to find something else to focus on but each other.

Alfred had let me chose where to sleep, and I decided to sleep in the couch so he could sleep in his own bed. But instead he put his mattress downstairs on the floor and slept there. It was still a bit awkward but we managed to fall asleep anyway.

The next morning went like all other mornings. For a second I even doubted if yesterday was truth or just some weird dream, but as I could feel the awkward tension again I knew it was real.

We sat at the dining table with out breakfast, for once, and both kept silent until we both decided to speak on te same moment;

"About ye-,"

"Ya kno-,"

We both were silent again, looking at each other and then suddenly burst into laughter.

We just kept laughing and suddenly the tense air was broken. We didn't say much else but we just enjoyed each other's presence, and the same was for the walk to my home.

I felt nervous about talking to my father. I could never know how he'd react and I didn't want him to be mad at me, but there was no way. Both because I realised there was no wat I could save this situation any more, and since I promised Alfred I'd do this.

Alfred and I had discussed it the first day of me staying at his house. He'd stay waiting outside, and I'd leave the door open so he could enter. I'd be allowed to talk to my dad on my own, but he made me promise I'd either yell or whatever when there was something wrong. I was glad he'd understood my wishes for talking to my dad and let us have our privacy.

I walked up to the gate and Alfred waiter there for me.

"Don't forget to make me know when there's somethin' wrong," he said, watching me in the eyes with a stern face. I nodded, still nervous, as I could feel his hand grab mine and giving it a light squeeze, "I'll come save ya, I'm a hero, remember?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, you are. I'll be going then," I said, turning around, "And, uhm… t-thank you," I softly added, "For everything," and I quickly continued walking, ignoring whether Alfred did or didn't hear me saying it.

I grabbed my house-key from my jeans pocket and opened the door, meeting the smell of alcohol I'd been used to, but now, after my absence, was kind of overwhelming me. I didn't see my dad, though.

I walked into the house, deciding on checking the living room first. I walked towards the door and opened it, walking along the diner table to get to the sofa my dad would usually pass out on. But despite watching where I walked, making sure not to trip over the bottles spread across the floor, I saw a small note lying on the table.

It was a small, white paper, reading a message written by different letters cut out of papers and magazines. It read;

_'Time changed, Tuesday,'_

It made me feel bad. I suddenly got a weird feeling in my stomach, thinking of this being no good. I picked it up and stared at it a bit longer. _Tuesday… what was changed to Tuesday?_

Suddenly I heard a door smack open form behind me and I could see my dad, frightened.

"Arthur, look ou-,"

I had no time to realise he was warning me from something, despite him being drunk. I could feel how someone grabbed me tight. I gave a quick yell, hoping Alfred could hear me but soon after I was grabbed someone put a piece cloth filled with _something_ in my face, and I could feel my consciousness slip away. It had to be some kind of chemical liquid drenched in the cloth that made me feel this way.

_What the-_

I heard some shatters of glad as if someone was hit by it, and then everything went black. I could feel some movement and heard my name being called from a distance –was that Alfred's voice?-, but I sank deeper and deeper into darkness…

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Ohyeah finallyyyyyyy :D I've got this plan for a while now :P lol you will figure out more next chapter, if this was a bit vague._

_So I should be updating HwRT, right? But I decided I felt more like writing ICL. :3 so there you go._

_As said in the author's note before I started writing, thanks for everyone who favourited the small oneshot I wrote, I really didn't expect so many positive feedback!_

_Well I cant say much, except that, even though I didn't plan it, I eventually got to add the requested kissing scene in it :D wohooo_

_Lol half way writing this Katie showed me an awesome picture. Well it started off with me fangirling over my shimeji's and me downloading APH flele's (though they don't work on my computer cuz my XP is too old and doesn't have Japanese pack :/) and well, I helped her install it. And since she got it now, she was listening t music, while having the msn frame with me talking right next to it. And well, shimeji's recognize msn frames and can touch them, so iggy climbed onto the side, which made it look as if he was glomping Flele!Alfred XD she made a beautiful picture of it, findable on her dA page xD it's just so… fitting XD [link and all can be found on the dA page. search for it on my profile, there you will go to my gallery, folder 'it's called love' and then click for chapter 12, look in decribtion and VOILA xD)  
><em>

_Lol well that's all for now, folks! I should really finish some other oneshots someday soon, and I should write new chapter of HwRT –this week went so fast- and stuff but for now; I hope you liked this and please review!_

_Byeee!_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(08/02/11)_

_Uh FF was a bitch with uploading, so I edited the text document I still had from chapter 10 into 12 :D I'm glad it seemed to work!  
><em>


	13. Chapter 13

non-beta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 13

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Sooooooo I was planning on updating 2 days ago, but I was busy with attending a party and some more stuff the first day, and 2nd day I was kind of writer-blocked and my mum butted in with telling me to get off the computer… sorry guys, even though I promised you yesterday! But I finally got myself a facebook account, as promised to people…I told them I'd make one before holidays end, and they do at 22nd of august… I'm SOOOOO NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO SCHOOL. I should be making some chemistry homework right now, but you know… procrastination xD<p>

Enjoy! (hope this chapter will be a bit longer.)

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><p>Oh and before I really start there's an <strong>IMPORTANT<strong> note;

Since I want to keep it somewhat secret to what's happened to Artie, and that I want to show something from Alfred's POV I will now chance into that. It will be he/she POV though, since this way it's easier to show some scenes in my opinion. I hope you don't mind, but for now this will have to do . OFF WE GO

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><p>It was impossible to believe for Alfred. He had been convinced that Arthur would shout or yell when there would be something wrong, after all only his dad could have done something to him, right?<p>

Alfred hadn't expected the loan sharks to wait for him, and even less to kidnap him!

They hadn't even bothered in kidnapping Arthur's dad, but instead went for Arthur himself, keeping him as a hostage. They were the worst.

Arthur had given some weird kinda yelp, and Alfred immediately ran into the house to see what was wrong, but when he got there they were already gone, leaving a small note saying they had kidnapped Arthur and wanted ransom, right after they had knocked out Arthur's dad with one of his own bottles.

It was the worst it could get. Just as Alfred had thought Arthur was finally safe and he could finally look after his best friend –they hadn't spoken about that kiss after all, so he assumed they were still just friends…- Arthur had to be taken away from him.

Fate had to be as dramatic and cruel as always; just when Alfred had gotten Arthur to be honest, he was immediately 'punished' by this. Being kidnapped.

That has been a day ago now. Alfred hadn't been able to sleep properly and his hair was a mess.

As soon as he found Arthur's dad, who was knocked out, and the note, he'd called the police, but they were already too late.

Right now some people from the police were checking Arthur's house to see if there were any traces from the loan sharks or where they'd kidnapped Arthur to. No luck yet.

Arthur's dad had been shipped to the hospital as soon as an ambulance arrived, but was still unconscious due the alcohol and the hit on the head. Aside from a wound on his head from the glass, he was okay.

Alfred, though, had to answer a lot of questions to the police officers, even though he didn't even knew the answer to half of them. Eventually they'd let him go home, giving him a business card in case there was anything to be noticed, and said they would inform him when they had found any information.

But still that wasn't enough for Alfred.

He wanted to know exactly what they knew. After all, he was the best friend of the hostage, and a hero who could save him!

And therefore he was now taking a bus to the local hospital where Arthur's dad was lying.

Alfred had been called about how the man had woken up about five hours ago and how he was almost sober. As soon as Alfred heard that, he decided to pay a visit. The man _clearly _needed to get some sense! And maybe he even knew something more about those guys kidnapping Arthur?

Alfred had decided not to go to school today. He wasn't feeling like he could concentrate anyway.

Music was beamed into his ears through his headphones and the bus took a small turn to the left. After a few more turns Alfred looked up and saw the bus was almost at the stop he had to be. He got ready to leave the bus and walked to door.

Soon he jumped onto the pavement and made his way towards the hospital. It wasn't really a long walk, the bus stop was for the hospital after all, but still it took a few minutes.

When Alfred finally entered the hospital, he looked around;

The lobby of the hospital wasn't too big, but it was most definitely busy. There were a lot of people waiting with small injuries and the like, and doctors and nurses were walking all around. Even the line before the counter was long, so he figured he'd have to wait a bit before being able to ask what room to go to.

He picked a small piece of paper with a number -167!-, sighed and sat down on one of the few empty seats.

He was glad having his headphones. He really didn't feel like being his usual social self. He was too occupied by his own thoughts at the moment.

No matter how hard he tried to keep himself from being sucked up in his own thoughts, it didn't work. He kept thinking about what could happen to Arthur, where he was, what they did to him, if he was still okay…

Alfred didn't like waiting at the sidelines. He was a hero, after all! But just when he had decided to show Arthur what an awesome hero he was, he had been dragged away from him. And the police didn't even share all the information they knew! They were so unfair…

Alfred didn't called his mom yet. He figured his parents and brother would be all stressed out and would try anything to keep him out of trouble. They'd fly back over immediately, and Alfred didn't want that to happen; after all, he would be able to manage this by himself. With his panicked parents and brother walking around, it'd only become worse.

Alfred had decide he could save Arthur himself, show him how much he cared about him and how he could protect him. Since even if Arthur now finally told him about everything, he was sure Arthur still had lots of mental scars left. And the kidnapping didn't help to that.

Another sigh escaped his lips and he looked around. He didn't look one bit forward to meeting Arthur's dad. He really felt like shouting to the man of how he could have been so stupid and what to do now, how he could have hurt Arthur so much and how he even dared to show his fucking face again, being all save while Arthur, -good, innocent Arthur- was now god knows where.

Alfred didn't usually become angry this fast but today he just couldn't help himself. He was too worried, too stressed out, too tired of it all. He might show a cool front at first glance; still laughing like usual, playing videogames when not able to sleep, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop thinking about what was happening to Arthur. He just couldn't.

A small bell could be heard through his music and a screen showed a number. 164. Just three more to go and Alfred would be able to ask the room number and see for himself how sober Arthur's dad was.

It didn't take long before Alfred was the one to be called to the front desk.

"How can I help you, sir?" The girl behind the desk asked, still rummaging through some papers.

"The room number of Mr. Kirkland? He got here yesterday," Alfred replied. His voice didn't sound like his own. It was much too polite, much too serious. He couldn't help it, really.

"Fifth floor, room eight it says. Is that all, sir?"

Alfred just nodded and made his way towards the stairs. He didn't feel like taking one of the crowded elevators and he really needed to lose some of his energy anyways. _And this would take more time._

It didn't take too long though before Alfred got to the fifth floor and made his way to the so called 'room eight'. Once there he noticed the door was shut and there was only one name on the door, which meant the asshole had a room to himself.

Alfred knocked, but immediately stepped in the room. Arthur's dad –well Alfred figured it had to be him- was lying in the bed, head bandaged and a tired look in his eyes, but over all he seemed fine. He looked a but surprised to see someone other then a doctor enter the room, but soon looked back at the ceiling again.

Alfred made his way across the room after closing the door, and took a seat in one of the two chairs beside the bed.

It was uncomfortably silent in the room. Neither of them chose to start the conversation at first, not even introducing themselves. It was like that for a could of minutes until Alfred spoke up.

"Yo, I'm Alfred. Artie's best friend," Alfred didn't really know anything else to say. He'd rather keep the conversation and sentences as short as possible.

Arthur's dad gave a small nod and looked at him. Alfred could feel his fists clench together. All of a sudden he could hear Arthur again, hear what he'd told about how his dad treated him, how he'd always hit him since his wife's death, how he'd always been mad at him with no reason.

Alfred could barely believe he could possess such a hatred for someone.

"Hello, Alfred," a hoarse voice suddenly said and the man in front of him looked back down, "You're here to talk about Arthur, aren't you?"

For a moment Alfred thought he could hear sadness in the man's voice. But he decided to put it aside and get straight to the point. He didn't want to waste any more time.

"Yeah I am," he said, "I just wanna ask if ya know anythin' more 'bout these assholes that kidnapped him," Alfred managed to say without showing his anger. It felt weird, really weird, to be angry, but he couldn't stay calm either, no matter how much he tried.

"Ah yes, those guys…" The man said with a absent minded voice. He sounded even sadder then before by remembering how he got into this mess and how his son was now kidnapped. He almost seemed to have some sort of guilt feeling. But Alfred didn't yet believe him.

"How the fuck can ya stay so calm, man!" Alfred snapped. He'd not expected this at all, but it felt good to finally tell the man in front of him what he thought, "Yer son is kidnapped by these assholes and they can't fuckin' find him, 'nd all ya do is lyin' here, sayin' 'those guys',"

"I'm so-,"

"I don't fuckin' care if yer sorry! Take responsibility 'nd so somethin' 'bout it!" Alfred had decided he wanted to at least get the man to apologise for Arthur.

"I know…" a soft voice said. The man looked down and Alfred could almost see tears in the corners of his eyes. _Did the man really care?_

"I know I've gone wrong. The alcohol, the abuse…" he stared at the door, trying to avoid Alfred's eyes and slowly started to continue his story, "I knew I was wrong. I knew it. But still I kept going on. Ever since I lost my wife…" Alfred could now clearly see a tear falling down, "…Ever since my wife passed away I haven't been myself. I know it is wrong, I'd do anything to go back in time and make it better, but I can't anymore. I ruined my sons' childhoods, especially Arthurs, and…" the man started crying for real now.

Alfred could see that deep down the man actually cared for Arthur. Maybe this was what Arthur had seen whenever he got beaten, maybe this was what kept him from informing others. Alfred still couldn't fully feel sorry for the man; after all he'd still beaten up Arthur over all these years, made Arthur feel miserable, didn't even _once _apologise… but he could see why Arthur hadn't reported him.

Seeing the man cry over his wife and sons, over the past and about the times they were all happy really made Alfred get a sense of pity.

Alfred just sat there, watching how the man changed in just a few seconds. The emotionless and non-caring look in his eyes had disappeared and was now replaced by guilt and sadness. The man finally, after all these years, understood how many big mistakes he had made in life and how he could never redo it or make it better.

"Do… do they know more about Arthur yet?" the man asked with a small voice, looking back up at the blue eyed and determined boy at the side of his bed.

"No they don't. they told me they'd give me a call when they do," Alfred said. He didn't feel like talking to the man any longer. He had sais what he needed to say and now he didn't have a reason to be here, he'd rather go home and try to think if he could remember anything else from yesterday that could be useful to the police.

"Just try 'nd remember those guys. It can be important," Alfred said while standing up and the man nodded, "Bye,"

He now made his way to the door and when he'd almost close it, he could hear a soft 'thank you,' being mentioned, even though Alfred didn't care. _The guy'd better thank Arthur 'bout how he still believes in him. Fuckin' asshole._

Alfred made his way back to the bus stop and went back home.

This night he was able to at least catch _some _sleep. He dreamt about Arthur, about him finally being happy but then vanishing. It had been a horrible dream, and Alfred didn't really catch a deep sleep again afterwards. Instead he just switched on his TV again and played some videogames.

He was so concentrated on his game that he barely heard his phone ring. But as soon as he noticed he dropped his consol and picked it up.

"Yo, it's Alfred," he said as soon as he had picked up.

"_-Alfred," _could be hear from the other side, _"Arthur's father told us about these loan sharks, it seems they mainly have business around the harbour. Seems there's a shack around there where Arthur might is being kept hostage," _

Alfred could feel his heart skip a beat. _Arthur. They found Arthur! _

" – _Alfred, you still there?"_ could be heard from the other side from the phone. It seemed he'd been silent longer then he'd thought.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here," he quickly replied, still wondering if this was a dream or reality.

" –_We want you to go with us in order to be there for Arthur. His father said those guys aren't afraid of some beating, and since he himself can't come for Arthur, he suggested you, telling us you were his best friend,"_

He couldn't believe it. They actually let him get there, save Arthur and show him he was capable of taking care of him.

"_We'll be there in five minutes, is that okay?" _

"…Yes," Alfred replied, already hanging up the phone while grabbing his jacket and putting on his shoes.

_They found Arthur!_

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Okay so I got a bit of a writer's block and not enough time last two days, but hey I'm back! :D _

_I hope this wasn't too OOC :S it's hard for me to write Alfred's POV sometimes, since I can much easier understand Arthur and I often use way too polite English for Alfred XD_

_I hope there's at least a bit more sympathy for Artie's dad now. He's still an arse, but well he will get more screen time later on again, since there's a lot to talk about between him and Arthur._

_Well yeah, my writers block is totally gone now! I'm sooo in for writing next chapter, though I can already tell you it wont happen tomorrow, since I will be going to a party (again XD) :P_

_Thanks for all the super nice reviews, and there's one in particular of an __**anonymous reviewer on FF, called FaberChan,**__that I want to reply;_

I'm pleased you love this so much XD your review made me very happy. xD

And it's nice to read you like the kissing scene even over all these stories I simply love . makes me feel a bit proud :P

I fixed the error you told me, and YES, MY DEVIANTART ACCOUNT IS Neko-Witch, it can also be found at my profile :P and its awesome to hear you're half Dutch 8D yayayayay

_Well that was my reply XD lol so lame :P but uuhm well… nothing much else to say… except for maybe telling you I'm seriously OVERWHELMED by the amount of favourites on my USUK shoes, as to be found on DeviantArt . I didn't expect them to become this loved! _

_Byee, and I hope you enjoyed! Looking at how it's going now, the fanfic will have about two chapters left. Why so soon? Well that's because I want to finish it before I got to school. School will make it hard for me to update, and I will probably drop any deadlines I've set for myself, so beware. I will keep on writing though, don't worry! And don't forget I've already got a new Steampunk AU USUK fanfic plot figured out ;D wohoo! I can't wait to start it, really!_

_Thanks for reading!_

_Oh and check the fanart out! There're more fanarts that are being made at the moment, so check for updates! And of course feel free to make some yourself! Send me the link and I add it to the list :D_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(08/06/11)_


	14. Chapter 14

Non-Beta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 14

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Sorry for late update, and sorry for not updating Hamburgers With Rockin' Tea again :. Sunday I had a party of both my brother and friends, and got home really late. Then Monday I woke up late, and my uncle came visit for my brother's birthday (My brother is 18 since yesterday :D Wohoo) and all with all it got late. And of course there was watching the new Harry Potter film yesterday! In 3D. I'm so happy I've finally seen it, I'm a hardcore fangirl xD

Finally we come to an important final part of the story, and this is one of the part's I've been planning for a long time :3 It'll probably be long…

OFF WE GO~

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><p>Right now Alfred was sitting in one of the police cabs. They had picked him up at his house about ten minutes ago, and right now they were driving towards the shack they suspected of being the place where the loan sharks kept Arthur.<p>

They drove with a few cars, but they didn't put n their alarms since that'd warn the guys and they might be able to run in time.

Alfred had gotten several instructions from the police officers; he wasn't allowed to come too close to the shack while they were busy closing it in. Also he wasn't allowed to do anything without first asking, and he should stay with one of the police officers at _all times._

Alfred had agreed without hesitating, since he could care less; all he cared for was how they found Arthur.

They just got messaged through the police radio about just five minutes left before being at the destination, and there were given a few instructions Alfred didn't really listen to.

The five minutes that had to pass were the longest Alfred had ever experienced. He kept thinking about how they couldn't drive faster, get there sooner, save Arthur as soon as possible, no time to waste!

But he had to obey the rules they'd set for him, and so he did. Pretending to be just waiting, though he clearly was hyper.

They started to drive slower and Alfred could see that some cars were going different ways in order to surround the building. This had to be some pretty big organisation, if the were this serious.

The car Alfred was in just drove on though, no other turns then necessary. Soon Alfred could see a shaft appear. It didn't look like one of these old and half-broken down shafts you'd see in movies, it looked just like the rest of the ones standing around. Alfred hoped they had chosen the right one, as they were all alike.

The car drove even slower once they got closer and it stopped at a good distance. Most people got out of the cars, and Alfred did as well. Several men took their positions, while the drivers kept sitting in the cars. The police man in charge of Alfred gestured to him to keep quiet and follow him to a few meters further back.

Alfred could feel his muscles tighten as they were about to beak up the door. _It all took too much time, they all are so slow! _

He felt how he got the urge to just barge through them and their slow force and just save Arthur for himself. He'd already seen shut in there far too long!

Suddenly Alfred could hear a yell, it was as if someone was getting hit very badly. The moment he heard it he knew for sure; _it was Arthur. _

All the self-restraint he'd built up over the past day was suddenly vanished. Deep down he knew he shouldn't do it, but he couldn't help it after he heard a yell, heard _Arthur yell._

He was clearly in need for his heroic help, and without thinking much or feeling anything else except for determination to save Arthur, Alfred ran towards the door that was almost opened.

He barged through the police men, with such speed they didn't catch up with him before he was too late. Nobody was able to stop him as he kicked in the door with an incredible strength, and went inside.

Several men were following him, but they couldn't keep up. They weren't as used to running as Alfred was and they also were much older. It wasn't long before Alfred had ran up a few metal stairs to get to the floor from which he could hear voices come.

He stood still and listened, trying to find the right moment.

"It's your own fault for not paying in time, boy," a voice said, "If lucky they will soon give us the ransom, other wise we might not know what we'll do…" Alfred could hear one person walking around, even though there had to be others as well since there were several snickers he could hear from the ones standing around the scene.

"It's not like you're not used to beatings, now are you? So this probably won't hurt so much anyways," And Alfred could hear how someone hit Arthur, who in return gave out a gulp and started couching.

"Don't be so pathetic, boy," another voice said, and some other pair of heavy boots could be heard walking, "You just have to do the job we requested you, and you're free. It doesn't seem anyone is going to pay random for a pathetic boy like you anyways," the man said, walking a bit farther forward and then stopping. Alfred thought the could hear the small clicking sounds of a gun.

It was silent for a bit but then the man started walking again.

"How about it, boy? It's not like you're going to survive this way…"

The silence was back. Nobody said a thing, and all there was to be heard was Arthur's heavy breathing making Alfred think he was in real pain.

_The assholes! I'm gonna fuckin' kill them if they do anything to Artie!_

Suddenly there was a stomp again, and the couching started again, this time followed by the sound of someone spitting.

"See this, boy? You already start coughing blood," the first voice said, obviously grinning.

Arthur kept silent for a bit, getting together his strength, but eventually spoke up.

"…I don't give a shit, I'm not going to do any of your filthy jobs!"

Several more stops and kicks could be heard and there was the sound of the gun again.

Alfred dared to poke up his head a bit so he could see what was happening. There were standing about five meant in total. Three were just hanging against the was, holding several weapons, while one guy was walking around. the last man was now bending forward, holding what seemed like a gun close to Arthur's head.

Alfred couldn't see Arthur very well now the man was blocking his sight, but what he saw made him angry. Very angry.

Arthur obviously got several cuts in his arms, was tied up into a cheap chair, and there were several drops of, what seemed like, blood on the floor.

Alfred looked around him, noticing a baseball bat was lying within his reach, only if he walked up the stairs a bit further…

Very slow and without a sound he walked up a step more and reached for the bat. All the tie while watching the guys in the room, but none of them seemed to be noticing he was there.

As soon as he grabbed it he duck down to where he was out of sight. He listened for a bit, checking if they had noticed, but soon found out they hadn't.

He stood there a little while longer, the man was still talking to Arthur while holding the gun, and it seemed the other guys hadn't moved much either.

But then one of the guys spoke up.

"Uhm… Boss… I think you'd better keep him alive,"

The man in front of Arthur looked up.

"Why?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. But it didn't take long before someone spoke up.

"…Police," was murmured softly.

"Fuck!" And Arthur was kicked again, but this time out of frustration, "How the hell did they find us? It has to be his fucking dad, we're going to kill him after we're done with his son!"

"But boss, if you keep him alive he might be a good hostage to trade with," someone reasoned but the man didn't care. He was furious and was already getting his gun ready to fire.

Alfred could hear Arthur squirm a bit, but when he looked up from the stairs he could see his green eyes staring at the man. They were fierce, as if daring him to kill him, shoot him right here, right now. As if he'd got nothing to lose. No one who'd miss him. As if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

But seeing the guy ready to fire, Alfred could feel how his legs started moving, how he walked up the stairs, not caring about anything around him, just determined to _knock down the fuckin' assholes._

_He was gonna save Artie like a real hero!_

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><p>I don't know how long it has been since I was kidnapped. I guessed for about two days, but I didn't know for sure. Most of the time I was blindfolded, and I didn't get any meals yet.<p>

I had woken up in some dark place, I don't remember where it was actually, and they kept talking to me about getting ransom or letting me do one of their _jobs_.

I didn't know what my dad had done exactly. They wouldn't tell. But I knew it had to be some rather big business since there were several different people every time I opened my eyes.

They seemed to own a lot of weapons, and they really enjoyed showing them off to me, probably to scare me. They had kicked me sometimes if I didn't do as they told me to, but I'm practically used to that after all these years. Still the guns made me feel the worse.

They seemed to own only a few, but there was always someone around me with one. I'd been shipped over to different locations over the time, which I think was to keep the police from tracing us. But apparently they somehow got on the track, since the longer time they kept me hostage, the more nervous and disordered they were.

At first it had seemed a well-planned kidnapping, but as the time passed there were more and more things going wrong. I could hear some conversations about how the police were visiting the last location and how they were starting to get closer. I felt glad they finally seemed to get on track, but as closer as they came, the more violent the loan sharks got.

They had started to talk to me about several things I could do to get free, as if they wanted to lose me but make sure I'd not tell the police. But they couldn't get rid of me that way.

I didn't want to stay here any longer, of course not, but I was absolutely _not _into doing some of their shady jobs, changing from drugs dealing to getting information for them. Even if it was a one-time job, I didn't trust them, I didn't want to get involved in this type of world like my dad had, and I didn't want to have anything happen to me anymore as what happened the night at the club.

Well I said they were getting more violent, though up to now it was still bearable. It was only since today that I was rudely awoken and got dragged out of the corner in the room where they'd dumped me. They had blindfolded me again, also making sure I couldn't talk or scream, and had dumped me into a car. When the blindfold was removed form my eyes again, it took a little while to get used to the light.

At that time it'd been around daytime and the sun shone brightly though some windows that were at each side of the room. The room it self was plain, had several shutters and stalls. For a second it made me think of a place where they'd exchange items, but I didn't have long to look around.

I had been quickly tied up in a chair that was grabbed form somewhere, and they'd been starting to look out of the window. They had talked about some jobs I could do, about how I'd better listen to their orders, and they threatened me with their weapons.

I just listened to what they told, not really caring over them, but I couldn't keep myself from giving some sarcastic comment.

_Smack!_

Was hit in the face. I could feel my cheek burn and I glared up. Thanks to my glare I got yet another punch, but this time in my stomach.

They started talking on as I tried to get together my breath again –since damn, that bloody hurt!- but I still refused.

I couldn't help myself, I just wanted to stay loyal to the thing I'd promised Alfred. I'd promised him I'd never ever do any weird jobs anymore, that I'd keep myself away form trouble and that I'd trust him. And so I did.

Every time I heard about the police getting closer, I was sure it had to be Alfred who noted them. My father had been too drunk, I am sure, and if I remembered correctly I could hear someone hitting his head with a bottle.

Over the past hours they kept hitting me, and hurting me. At one point they even got out a knife and started cutting in my arms. Not so I'd lose so much blood I'd die, but just enough to make me slowly lose a lot of energy.

It hurt damn much, but I didn't want to give up. I just didn't. I might was too stubborn, but I couldn't convince myself to just get along with them and do as they asked. It'd made me feel even more miserable then I felt right now.

At one point they had just started hitting me for fun, all one after another, seeing who could hurt me the most. I could hear some ribs crack into what felt like even break, and my head started to hurt more and more each time it got hit. And losing blood didn't help to that.

I'd been sitting here for a while until one of the men had spoken up. The guy that apparently was their 'boss' had been threatening me with a gun when he got told the police had surrounded the building.

To be honest I'd expected them to flee without even bothering about me, but it seemed the boss, in all his stress, got the sudden urge to kill me for real.

I could feel my stomach turn, and I got a sick feeling. For a second I thought I was going to throw up, since I felt fear spreading through my painful and numb body, but I refused to show it. If I'd die, I'd rather die with pride. There wasn't a sign of someone saving me any way.

I looked up at the man, face covered in blood and bruised, a sarcastic grin on my face and a look in my eyes, daring him to shoot me. I didn't want to die, but even if I'd no choice, I'd not just surrender.

I was so intensely staring at him that I didn't notice someone approaching him from behind. I was shocked when I suddenly saw how the gun was hit out of his hand by a baseball bat and how the guy got smacked against his cheek with a strong fist.

My saviour soon started hitting around him towards the other guys as those had approached form four different sides, all armoured with several weapons varying from knifes to planks.

I just sat there, not being able to do anything with my blood and thus energy slowly dripping out of my arms, and the duct tape wrapped tightly around me and the chair.

I could see how the _hero _in front of me hit the guys as if invincible. He wasn't able to be taken down, he was focussed on every move any f his opponents made and he knocked them down with not much effort at all. It was almost too perfect to be real.

The hero in front of me turned around, but I already knew who he was before he did so. His bomber jacket was way too obnoxious not to be noticed, and the strength he owned was incredible.

A pair of cerulean eyes looked into my own, green ones, and I felt safe again. No matter how scared I'd been, I now knew I was safe. I was with _a hero._

Everything happened in slow motion, and I could barely hear the sound of the bat falling onto the ground, as Alfred bent forward to remove the duct tape. I could see how he was also stabbed at some points and received several hits as well, but it seemed he was fine enough.

I could feel my weakness taking over again; I'd surely lost much more blood then I thought I had.

We were both too occupied by checking if we were both all right and by getting out of here that we didn't notice what was happening behind Alfred's back.

But by the time we noticed, it was already too late. A shot could be heard and Alfred suddenly lost strength. He fell like a doll into my arms, and I grabbed his sides trying to hold him up.

I didn't manage to do so and we both fell onto the floor. I could feel how the last bits of my own energy also flowed away and I got dizzy.

As soon as I actually focussed on Alfred, I noticed how my hands felt warm and wet and how a fain smell of iron was filling the air. I pulled one of my sticky hands up a bit, and saw red. Everywhere red.

It didn't took long though until my hand fell back again, grabbing Alfred's sides again and drifting off to a black depth. I thought I could hear a lot of noise, voices yelling orders, feet walking around on the floor, but I barely noticed.

I didn't care the way we were lying, both holding each other, all I could wish for was that Alfred would be okay, and that soon this would be all over…

I wished for so much more, but I couldn't pray, I couldn't wish, I could not do anything… _I was tired, way too tired…_

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_HOLY SHIT NUUUUUUUH ;A; wtf did I just write, WHY AM I SO CRUEL? :D_

_(yay smiley face)_

_Fuck yeah I finally wrote parts I've been looking forward to xD HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA XD *psycho laugh*_

_Yeah don't worry it's not finished yet… :3 and dfhgbf im so gonna laugh at comments asking me if Alfred dies or not :P cuz all I'll tell you guys is YOU'LL SEE :D_

_Well that's all? :3 it was a long chapter? XD _

_Oh and thanks to Katie for giving me a lot of advice, support, and awesomeness! :D she deserves some huge glomp from you all!_

_Yeah my brother is awesome he got his first driving class yesterday. He's 18 now 8D I feel awesome cuz we made pictures with pointy party-hats on our forehead pretending to be unicorns… that idea came to me the party a day before :P ()_

_Byeee~~!_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(08/09/11)_


	15. Chapter 15

Non-beta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 15

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Uhg I'm soooo tired, but all these reviews and shit kept me from slacking off just another evening. So here I am, writing a story while feeling like I could actually use some sleep, so sorry if there's even more errors then usual (I seriously FAIL at recognising my own errors) but please ENJOY…<p>

OMG ALFRED WHAT DID I DO YO YOUUUUUU ;A;

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><p>I woke up by the bright light that was shining in my eyes. All the white around me reflected the bright sunlight that was beamed into the room through the window. The small curtain couldn't fully block it and it didn't really help against my headache.<p>

I didn't feel like opening my eyes just yet. It was silent in the room, except for the sound of machines and a small beeping sound of these monitors that check on your heartbeat.

I just lied there for a bit longer. I started to slowly thinking about what I could remember that happened last, and figured I had been tied into a chair with some pretty strong duct tape, that Alfred came to save me and tha-…

_Alfred!_

My eyes shot open and suddenly the memories flowed into my mind and I could almost see it happen in front of me. The moment of relief when I found out that I was saved, was still alive and that Alfred was here to protect me. The joy I'd felt at that moment and the feeling of pure gratefulness. But then there was the sound, the horrible, ear-hurting sound. The moment Alfred got hit by the bullet, it felt as if my own heart was hurt.

No matter how much I'd tried to keep him away from any harm, I'd failed in the end. Alfred had been shot by saving me, he might even had been _killed_!

I could feel as if I couldn't breath, as if my lungs kept me from taking in any oxygen that I inhaled. Without even thinking twice I sat up, a bit too fast so I had to quickly fall back into the pillows again to slowly ease the pain that had appeared in my ribs, but as I sat up for the second time, this time slowly, it was okay.

I looked around, trying to find the blonde hair with a weird cowlick sticking up, trying to find the sky blue eyes staring at me, the happy grin, the feeling of happiness he always gave me…

I looked at the bed next to mine and realised the beeping sounds came from that side of the room. A lot of machines were standing around the bed, so much it was almost impossible to see who was lying in it, but the colour of hair sticking out from the pillows made my heart drop.

I stared at him for a few seconds, realising that he had his eyes closed and his glasses were off, placed on the bedside table. He looked peaceful, but not like peaceful in a good way… he looked just asleep, but not like how he'd normally sleep; normally he'd sleep with his limbs spread all over the bed and a small bit of drool escaping his lips. But he was lying too neat, too silent… it didn't look like the Alfred I knew.

Not at all.

I tried to get off the bed, walk to him, see how he was from closer distance. I wanted to touch his hair, his face, his injuries. Wanted to see if he was all right, if he was there, if he was still the Alfred I knew, even though he looked so unnatural to me at the moment.

But as soon as I tried to move, I realised there were several machines attached to me as well.

There was an infuse put into my arm, which let to a bag hanging on some small pole with what I thought would be blood. My wrists were professionally bandaged and my head also felt as if it was wrapped in some type of bandages. There was some type of brace wrapped around my midriff that made it hard for me to move, but not impossible. I figured that had something to do with my ribs.

A few other injuries were bandaged by either bandages or plasters. If I moved I could feel several parts of my body hurt, but at least I was feeling good enough to move. The final thing I noticed was an infuse that seemed to have some type of either medicine –which I thought was unlikely- or some type of 'food' to keep me from starving. I didn't know how long I'd been out, so it was possible.

My head still hurt and I was a bit dizzy –probably from losing so much blood- but I didn't pay much mind to it. All I thought about was to check up on Alfred, to see how _his _injuries were…

But before I could make another move a nurse walked in, looking somewhat stern and unfriendly, but she was obviously surprised to see I was awake.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me while starting to open the curtains. I didn't want her to, it still hurt in my eyes, but she did it before I could protest.

"Quite all right, I guess," I said, "Thank you,"

"It's all right…" she trailed off, walking up to me and grabbing a chair, sitting down with a clipboard and pen in her hands.

"How're you feeling, right now?" she asked me. It took me a little while to realise how I really felt; I could feel some parts of my body hurt, but overall I felt good enough. Well, I wasn't dying from pain.

"I'm feeling rather fine, I guess. A bit of a headache and somewhat dizzy, but overall I'm fine," she started writing as soon as I started talking and I figured she wrote down exactly what I said, "How long have I been here?" I asked.

The question had been in my head ever since I woke up, but I didn't have a chance to ask yet. Now I did, I immediately used it.

"About two days. It's rather long for someone to stay unconscious for so long, but it seemed you were rather dehydrated and the blood loss didn't help to that," she answered straight forward. She looked at her clipboard again, checking if she forgot anything and then started talking again;

"Your injuries are pretty bad, I must say. About three of your ribs broke, which is why you're wearing the brace. These will take about a month to heal, while most of your other injuries are bad, but will heal faster. Your wrists might keep scars, though…" she added. I just nodded. I wasn't really surprised about this information and just accepted it as it was.

But there was just one more thing I was dying to know.

"Uhm, m'am," I stared, "Uhm… May I ask you something?"

"Sure," she replied, somewhat absentmindedly since she was still checking her clipboard.

"Is…" it was harder then I expected it to be, I didn't know just asking a simple question could be this hard, "…Is he… Is Alfred all right?"

It was hard to keep my voice from showing how nervous and scared I felt. I thought I did a pretty good job, but as I saw the nurse look at me with some type of pitiful look I wasn't too sure anymore.

"He's…" she said, looking somewhat towards Alfred who was lying behind her, "He's okay for now. Well, at least he's alive. He was shot around his spine, we're not sure about the rest. We can only tell if his legs are paralyzed or not when he wakes up and tells for himself…" she said with a silent voice. But even though she tried to be as gentle and silent as possible, it didn't stop the words from piercing right through me.

He might be alive but what if he was paralysed? What if it was Arthur's fault? Arthur's stupidity? Why did he even tell him in the first place? He tried so hard to avoid this, it almost succeeded, but he was so… so _stupid_ to still tell Alfred about everything.

Of course Alfred would've done everything in order to save him! He believed he was a hero, but he forgot that even heroes could die.

I felt miserable.

It felt good to know he was alive, sure, death would've been even more unbearable, but still…

I couldn't deal with the idea of something like _this _being my fault.

Of course people would say it wasn't my fault, that I couldn't have done anything about it, that I tried everything I could…

But I would disagree. I could've kept my mouth shut, pretend nothing ever happened, and Alfred would be walking around, happy and with no worries, just like he had always been doing. Not lying in a hospital bed, covered in white sheets instead of his superman ones, sleeping in an unnatural way, all kinds of machines attached to him…

The nurse shifted uncomfortable, noticing I was distracted and probably wondering if she'd better leave me alone.

"Uhm… Is it okay if I leave?" she finally asked.

I nodded. I didn't feel like moving, I didn't feel like breathing… I didn't feel anything but guilt, pain and sadness.

It felt as if the world crumbled under my feet. It still wasn't sure whether he was or wasn't paralyzed, of course, but since it's his spine…

But before I could think any more the nurse tuned around.

"Oh and it'll be visitor's hour in about fifteen minutes. Mr. Jones' parents and brother came here as soon as they'd been informed, you mind if I let them in?"

"That's quite all right," I said with a somewhat forced and lifeless voice. I couldn't bring myself to sound happy or anything. I just felt horrible and all I could so was wish for Alfred being okay.

To distract myself for a bit I looked over at the bedside table Alfred and I were sharing. It had some small bouquet of flowers on it, Alfred's glasses, several bars of chocolate –probably for Alfred- and a can of water with two glasses. Suddenly I could myself feel thirsty, as if I could die any moment. I quickly reached over – well as quickly as possible- to pour myself some water, and make the thirst go away.

As soon as I was finished, still glass in hand, the door swung open and I could see Alfred's mother walking in, followed by the man and boy I recognised from the photographs in Alfred's room.

"Arthur!" Alfred's mum said to me, walking fast. She gave a quick glance towards Alfred to check if he _really _wasn't awake yet, but then focussed on me again, "Arthur, ya've gone through so much! How are ya feeling? Don't let it bother ya, dear. I know it's hard on us, but it's not your fault…" she kept talking and asking me questions, but I still wasn't fully sure to know exactly what to say. I didn't want to hurt her, I didn't want to talk about anything, I just wanted to be left alone. But it'd be cruel to say so, and therefore I just answered her questions.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said. What else could I say? Tell her I was miserable? The woman clearly hadn't slept much and her eyes were red with tears. She might try to hide it, but even I could see it.

I looked at the other people in the room, the ones I only knew from the photo.

I looked at Alfred's dad, who just stood there, standing, looking at his son that was lying in the hospital and at his wife. He also clearly had it rough; his face had a sad expression which didn't fit his face and also didn't remind me much of the photograph I'd seen.

Alfred's brother, Matthew, was now sitting next to his brother's bed. He just looked at his brother, sad expression keeping his face from looking so much alike Alfred's. he didn't move much but sometimes I could see him try to hold back his tears. It didn't work fully though, as I could see a small tear fall over his cheek, quickly wiped away as if it was never there.

The hour didn't last a full hour. After I'd quietly claimed I felt still a bit tired, they'd left the room, realising Alfred wasn't even near to waking up and not wanting to be a bother to me.

I lay back in my pillows, feeling like I could cry but still no tears could fall. I got the feeling I actually felt so sad I couldn't even cry. No matter how much I tried to let this sad feeling leave me along, to cry my heart out and to show everyone how terrible and guilty I felt about it all, I couldn't… it just didn't happen…

I don't know how long it took, but at some point I must have fallen asleep. I know, since when I woke up I figured the curtains were once again closed, a small plate with some sandwiches and a glass of water standing on the table next to me, and the sun had stopped shining through the window.

I looked up at my side, realising Alfred was still there. Still asleep, still unmoved. I looked at the sandwiches but figured I wasn't hungry. Not at all.

I don't know why, since it really hurt to walk, but I couldn't keep myself from walking to Alfred's bed. I grabbed one of the chairs left behind and sat there for a few minutes.

I reached out, trying to hurt my ribs as little as possible, and touched his arm. It had an infuse attached to it, which seemed to be filled with blood just like mine, and I traced it down to his hand.

Without thinking much, I grabbed it. Despite the cold hand I'd expected, his hand was warm and soft. I grabbed it tighter and I could feel a tear fall down. I didn't care, I just stared at his hand and my hand that was holding it.

More tears dropped down, slowly making small drips onto the white sheets, almost invisible if you didn't take the time to look for them.

I sat there for a while, quietly letting the tears drop down my cheeks, not bothering about anything in the world but Alfred. That was until I suddenly could someone call my name…

_My nickname…_

"…A-Artie?"

I looked up, eyes wide of disbelieve and filled with tears.

It was Alfred. _Alfred!_

He was awake. He moved. He talked. He said my name!

Or was it a dream? Was this fake? Was this just my imagination running wild? Was this-…

"Artie, don't cry," a hoarse voice said to me again. I focussed on Alfred again and looked into his eyes.

Even in the dark room they still shone brilliant, they still shimmered as if they were skies filled with stars, they still beamed the most wonderful feelings I'd ever got straight to me.

"…Alfred," I slowly said, "Alfred!" tears started to fall down again, but this time accompanied with a smile in my face, "How are you feeling Alfred? Are you really awake? Are you feeling all right?..." I asked.

"Are…" I wavered for a bit, not sure how to ask this, "…Are you feeling your legs?"

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Sorry if the last part is rushed, I should've been sleeping for about an hour now and my mum wasn't going easy on that!_

_I hope you liked this chapter, it was written pretty past, ignoring the fact that I kept getting distracted, and well… I enjoyed writing this :P_

_Sorry, again, for any mistakes and typos. I'm really dead tired now! _

_Reviews would be loved and CHECK OUT THE NEW FANART! IT'S BEAUTIFUL! Can be found either in the links below (dA) or my profile (FF)_

_Also I want to thank Katie for always supporting me, helping me to get inspiration, helping me with words, sentences, scenes and whatever, helping me with brainstorming, helping me with getting motivation and helping me with keeping me happy. She's always there for me when I need her, and therefore she deserves more love! EPIC GLOMP FROM ME TO KATIE 3 :D_

_Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and sorry for the long wait…_

_Byee!_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(08/13/11)_


	16. Chapter 16

nonbeta

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><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 16

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Sorry, late update, but that's what happens when you feel somewhat ill and it's the last week of your holidays and you've got LOTS to do before you're ready :

Uhm yeah, sadly, the story is almost ending. It will be either next chapter, or next chapter + epilogue, but that's it.

I do so because school will start (as I said) and I'll have to have as much free time as possible now I've got higher level of education :/ (uhg I'm so NOT looking forward).

I will keep on writing though. I'll drop every deadline I've ever set for myself this holiday, so I don't know how regular my updates will be, but I'm planning on a new story. Steampunk AU and of course USUK. I actually was hoping for you guys to read it when it will be uploaded, so sorry if I sound greedy, but now you know.

Long enough talking, let's get on with the chapter…. OOOOOH THE SUSPENSE!

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><p>The air was tense.<p>

I could feel my heart beat in my chest, knowing there would be either a good or a bad answer. I couldn't even get myself to pray or wish for the good answer, I could just stare.

Stare in the sky-blue eyes that shone brightly even in the dimmed light. The eyes that were now looking at me with a look that made clear he was just awoken and with a bit of confusion as he let my question slowly repeat in his head before answering.

"My… Legs?" he asked.

He was clearly just awake; not sure where he was exactly, what all the weird sounds of machines were, what I was doing here, at his bedside, crying.

"Y-yes, your legs," I said in between a soft sob, "A-are… Can you feel them?" I repeated my question.

He looked at me as if I were mad.

"Of course I can," he said, and I couldn't even smile from happiness.

I was shocked. I had prepared for the worst possible thing to happen, but for _once_ my life seemed to be good and nice enough to listen to my wishes.

"My back hurts like hell, though," he said, trying to sit up. His face clearly showed he was in pain, so I tired to gently but quickly push him back in his bed.

"Stay still!" I said, "The nurse said you were shot near your spine, don't you dare to move until I call a doctor!"

My somewhat protective side took over and Alfred seemed to be surprised for a bit. For a small moment I even thought I could see some small glance of rejection in his eyes, but I ignored it. _It's better for him to lie down. How ironic would it be if he'd get paralyzed after all only because he moved around?_

I searched around, moving as little as possible because of my ribs, trying to find one of these buttons used to call a nurse or doctor.

I was so happy he woke up and seemed to be fine enough to move that I couldn't keep myself from wanting to take care of him, making sure he wouldn't injure himself anymore then he was injured now. He'd saved my life, he'd done all these heroic things he'd always wished to do, but now it was time for me to do something in return.

"These machines and tubes are annoyin'," Alfred suddenly spoke up the moment I found the button. I pushed it and looked back at Alfred, who was now trying to see where all tubes and machines were attached to while moving as little as possible. _At least he listened to what I told him._

I looked a bit longer, but soon one of the night nurses –well, at least not the one from earlier- made her way into the room.

"What is i-," she started but as she saw Alfred staring at her from the bed and me sitting in the chair, she realised that had to be why I called her.

"Ah I see. I'll get the doctor now. He's still here and he said I should call him when both of you were awake," she continued, "Hold on a second," and as soon as she had entered, she left, leaving Alfred and I staring at each other.

"And are ya okay?" Alfred asked with a voice that was still a bit hoarse, giving me a small grin.

I didn't know what to say.

I just nodded quietly in return, looking around the room and then back to Alfred while starting to wipe some tears from my eyes.

His eyes looked a bit worried, but at the same time peaceful and gentle. He just stared back at me, observing my every move, and I could feel a small blush spread on my cheeks, though I was almost sure it wasn't visible in this dimmed light.

The door opened again and both of our gazes were broken and turned to where the sound came from.

A man in a white coat -obviously a doctor- entered the room while the nurse from before kept standing in the doorway. The man seemed kind and gave us a small smile.

"Hello, boys. You mind if I switch the lights on?" he asked.

"Nah it's fine," Alfred said and not long after that the room was filled with artificial light. One of the lamps was still flickering but nobody paid mind to it.

"Good," the doctor mumbled as he grabbed the second chair in the room and sat beside the other side of Alfred's bed from where I was sitting, "Where to start…" he continued to mumble.

Alfred and I just waited for the man to talk and after a small sigh he started;

"Let me start at the very beginning," he said with a serious expression on his face, "You guys have been out for about two to three days. You were both in a pretty bad shape when you came in, so that wasn't too big of a surprise. I haven't heard the full story yet from the police, so I don't know much details, but seems you guys have been through quite some trouble,"

The small grin returned on his face, the same type of grin a father would give his son when he'd show his father his first self-built plane model kit.

"Well the trouble aside, you are still pretty badly injured," he continued, face going back to serious, "You, Mr. Kirkland, have already heard most of the story from one of our nurses, but I still have to add you will not be allowed to move too much for about two to three weeks. After this time you still have to stay in the hospital to recover fully, but we'll see about that when it's time,"

I gave a quick nod of understanding and he turned his head to Alfred.

"And you, Mr. Jones…" he started, "You were shot near your spine. It would have been only a small bit more to the left and you'd be paralyzed for the rest of your life,"

Alfred gulped I also looked a bit in shock. I already knew it, but still I kept thinking of what if the bullet _did_ hit his back a little more to the left…

"It will take a long time to heal, specially a bullet wound, and you'll probably have to start having some rehabilitation to get your muscles used to work again after lying down for at least four weeks, but since your body is healthy it'll probably heal fast. At least faster then most people," he gave a quick nod to confirm his statement.

"Wait," Alfred said, "Did ya just say… _Four weeks?_" he looked with horror written all over his face. I can imagine why; Alfred was the kind of boy to move around all day and to get bored easily. There was no way he was going to be able to pass those weeks peacefully.

"Yes, that's right," the doctor said and Alfred started to pout.

"But, but!" Alfred said, trying to think of a reason why not to have to lie down for so long, but he couldn't come up with anything.

"Sorry, there's nothing to do about it," the doctor said as he stood up from his chair, "I will let your guys sleep now. You too, Mr. Kirkland, don't move around so much, just lie down."

I slowly started to move back to my own bed, that was located behind me, trying not to hurt my ribs. Since really, _they hurt._

I could hear the door open and the lights were switched off as I started to pull the blankets over me. It felt weird, lying in a bed that wasn't mine, but I would be able to sleep anyways; I was dead tired.

The long day, filled with worries and an almost sleepless evening the past hours, really got me knackered.

"You guys were really lucky," the doctor said and then closed to door, leaving Alfred and I silent as we thought about what he'd said seconds before.

Since I realised we really _were _lucky.

It could've gone wrong at so many points, we could've ended up dead and many other ways. I couldn't stop thinking about how it'd be if we were less fortunate? What if Alfred couldn't walk anymore? He'd not be able to play football, he'd not be able to run around as much as he loved to do, his family would be miserable…

And how about me? What if I were killed? I'm pretty sure Alfred would miss me; he was the one to be so eager to save me, but how about my family? Would they care? Would my dad notice and would my brothers even bother to get me a proper funeral? What would've happened…

I kept thinking about many possible ways, I got totally absorbed in my own thoughts, so much Alfred had to call my name at least three times.

"Hey, Artie, ya awake?"

Finally I got pulled out of my own thoughts and moved my head to stare back to where Alfred was lying. The moment I met his eyes I realised I didn't have to worry about what could've happened anymore, I didn't have to worry about what _will_ happen anymore. Not now.

There was a silence, but it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. It was a silence in which our eyes met and we exchanged both feelings and thoughts, a silence where we started to understand each other, support each other and both agreed we should be happy with what we have.

"Did ya," Alfred spoke up and a small grin could be heard from his voice, "Did ya… think I was heroic?" he asked me, almost impossible to hear since he kind of hid his head in the pillow.

I didn't have to think about what to answer. I couldn't even think if I wanted to.

My mind had gone blank and I just replied automatically;

"Yes," I said, "Yes, you're a hero… my hero,"

Again there was a small silence. I started to wonder what I said had been weird, but I felt no regret; after all it was what I really felt. For once I could be honest to Alfred.

"…Wicked," Alfred stated. I waited for him to respond more, but as I heard a loud yawn I realised how tired I was, myself. My mind wanted to think about a lot of other things, but my body wont let me; sleep slowly took over and within minutes I was fast asleep.

In the bed right next to me hero.

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><p>It's been about two weeks later now, and I'm finally allowed to walk more again. I still took a wheelchair to get to the room where my dad would be waiting for me since my ribs still hurt at times and I didn't walk so fast.<p>

The past two weeks had been… interesting.

About two days after both Alfred and I awoke, two police officers had come to visit us. They'd started off with telling Alfred that he was the most stupid boy ever and that they wont ever let him go with them again. Alfred just grinned and kept claiming he wasn't stupid but heroic.

It turned out these police officers were the ones who had been in charge of Alfred when they came to rescue me and of course had gotten a long speech at their work after Alfred had been acting 'heroic' and got shot.

But they were nice though. They told us about what had happened to the guys they'd arrested; it turned out it were a few underlings from a bigger mafia network. The guy they'd called 'boss' was more important, and they were able to track down a few more members of the network, though of course they still hadn't got them all.

They elt us write down all our experiences that they could use for the judge and the like. It was hard to write about all things that had happened to me, and most of all it was outright embarrassing to write about the fact I'd actually been employee at a stripping club.

They said they would try to find the guy that almost raped me, but there wasn't a big chance they could find him; these type of men wandered around there a lot, and since I couldn't remember much of the man he wasn't really recognisable.

They'd left us with their business cards, just in case, and introduced us to some new people.

One of them was a psychiatrist who was experienced with talking with people who had traumas. I couldn't really tell if Alfred got a trauma or anything alike, but his mum had forced him to talk to the woman, if he wanted or not.

To me it was something I obviously needed. I didn't want to admit it, but over all these years it really had made me traumatized.

At first it was hard to trust a woman I never had talked to and barely knew her name, but just like all psychiatrists they were able to make you talk by asking just the right questions.

The first few days had been uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing –when talking about the more recent parts in my life- but after the first week I became to actually trust her.

After that week of talking every day, the session had increased to once a week. It was still a bit weird at times, but it surely helped me to get over certain parts of my life.

And of course there was Alfred. It was hard not to notice him if you stayed in the same room as his; he kept telling me how much he his back hurt, how the hospital 'smelled like old people', how the tubes kept annoying me, how the nurse wasn't nice to him, how he couldn't play games, etcetera.

At some timed he got me frustrated enough to make me throw a book at him, but unfortunately I always missed… I got too annoyed to bother aiming right.

I was glad Alfred found out they had his favourite TV channel on the TV above his bed, but when there wasn't anything interesting to do he'd kept talking to me.

Talking about life in American, about his school and friends, but also talking about our school and about what people would think if he came back and told his 'heroic' story.

I didn't want to admit at first, but I had to eventually; he made me laugh, he made me feel warm inside and most of all, he made me feel happy.

No matter how painful it was to laugh with my ribs still sore, I couldn't help it. He kept making obnoxious jokes and tell me heroic stories of which I only believed half.

Also Matthew had started it come by more regular. It seemed he and Alfred were pretty close, and since he'd soon have to leave again he figured it'd be nice to talk to his brother about how things were going with him –aside from the fact being in a hospital.

It turned out Matthew had been given a month free from school to visit his brother in the hospital all the way down in England. He was a good student so they let him. He still had to take care of his homework though.

Sometimes he'd take it with him to the hospital and I noticed I could help him with some parts. After a few days I found myself being friends with the lots less-obnoxious brother.

Alfred's parents had come by every day to check up on us, bringing sweets and comics for Alfred and me. Eventually though, they switched to buying me a book since they noticed the only one reading the comics was Alfred. I was really grateful about it, since I really could use some distraction from the boredom.

Also, radio seemed to be my saviour. After the first one and a half week, I finally found out how to get it to work –I didn't want to ask people since I figured I'd look stupid- and that gave me the opportunity to ignore Alfred and peacefully read the book.

But these days were now past. All this time I'd ignored the fact I had to talk with my father but yesterday I had been reminded by one of the nurses.

She'd told me my dad would come to talk to me tomorrow. It'd be the last moment he'd be in the hospital before going to the rehabilitation in order to get rid of his alcohol.

And therefore I was now walking towards the room where my dad was waiting. It was a room designed to have small talks with family members, if one were able to walk and sit normally. It would be more private then other places in the hospital and thus they had chosen to let us talk there.

There would be a doctor waiting outside the door, just in case my dad would get abusive again, but aside from that they'd leave us alone. I was okay with that.

By now I'd almost reached the final part of the hall and I waited in front of the door, taking a deep sigh.

I wondered if my dad really did change so much in the past two weeks as I thought, after hearing what the nurses said. I knew I'd have to find out for myself and it would be a difficult conversation. But no matter how difficult, I was determined to make it happen and to finally clear up parts of my life.

I opened the door, leaving the wheelchair standing outside, as I walked the last few steps towards the only free chair left in the room.

I sat down and looked at my dad. He had a strange look in his eyes I'd not seen for a long time; the kind of look people had when they felt sad, when they were sorry, when they didn't knew _what _to do in order to make you forgive them. I could see small tears starting to form in that same eyes, but I didn't turn away.

I just stared, waiting for my dad to start the conversation, as the door closed silently behind me.

"I- I'm so sorry,"

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Yay weird cliffy? Sorry :/ I really had to cut it off here XD_

_Damn that was a loooooong chapter. Uuhm yeah, is there anything I need to say?_

_Well maybe there is; as said in the AN above, this story will end soon. It'll have one more chapter + epilogue. BUT I figured it'd be sad to have it end like this without much more fluff! Sooo~~~ I'm planning on maybe writing a sequel, but that one will just be filled with random chapters of fluff, just to add to the story aside from the base plot._

_I wont be updating it regular, just whenever I feel like it, and I'm NOT SURE YET IF I'M REALLY GOING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN it's just something I'm planning._

_And yay there's so many fanart being made! I can't wait to see all results!_

_Well, time to post now… damn I wrote (including yesterday's small 1 ½ page) about 5 hours on this XD lol maybe even more_

_Thanks for reading, see you soon. Sorry for being so slow with updates lately, it's really kind of breaking me a bit to upload so much. Once this story is finished don't expect it to be uploaded so often anymore, just warning you guys._

_Byee~~_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(08/15/11)_


	17. Chapter 17

nonbeta

* * *

><p><strong>It's Called 'Love'<strong>

Chapter 17

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>So yeah hello, there it finally is; the real chapter 17.<p>

I quickly want to thank all of you who replied my post containing questions and shit. It really helped/helps me and I will use all the advice to improve myself.

And lucky you guys; there WILL be a sequel! :D thanks to all your awesome help with telling me what you'd like to see in the sequel, I am able to think up something _awesome!_

I still have to fix a few lose ends on the plot, (if it's not going to end as a oneshots-collection-thingy) and make some decisions, but it'll be there!

I'm totally looking forward to writing it and all your support really made me feel even more motivated then ever! I will stop rambling now, might thank you guys more in the AN at the end, but please enjoy this chapter. It'll be the last chapter of this series, and since there's going to be this sequel I wont be adding an epilogue, but please look forward to it!

Thanks again for reading this for all this time, thanks for all kind comments and all help and please tell me if there's ANYTHING you want to ask or request. I can't promise stuff, but I can try! :D

Uuhm the full results of some of the votes are in the longer AN .

~Off we go

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><p>It was weird to see my dad again after such a long time. Well, a little over two weeks isn't that long, but because of all that'd happened I really felt like it's been at least a month.<p>

I was surprised that I only felt a little bit nervous. Somewhere in my mind I kept getting the feeling of having to hide, to run away, making sure he couldn't hit me, but after having talked about my feelings more –though not everything yet- and knowing there was someone close who I could call if anything would go wrong, really made me feel calmer.

And also my dad really seemed to feel bad. I know I should be the last person on earth to forgive him, but it finally saw a glimpse of the man I always thought he was; a man, broken by the sorrow of losing his wife, forgotten by all of his elder sons, and terribly, terribly sorry about everything he'd done wrong.

It didn't mean I fully forgave him just yet -no he'd hurt me too much to do so-, but still I could feel a small bit of sympathy form in the very back of my brain.

It felt like I finally got my '_real'_ father back. Not the drunkard that'd hit me about everything, that'd not care if I was there or not, that would only want me to buy him food and liquor and then just vanish.

No, this man was different. This was my '_real'_ father; the man with feelings, the man that'd take care of his sons in these sad times, the man that _seriously _regretted everything he'd done in life. It was the man I've been hoping for to appear ever since my mum died.

He was talking now. I could see he was. His mouth moved, his eyes looked towards the door, towards the chair, towards the window and then back to me. He moved with his hands, trying to show he was really sorry. He didn't seem able to find the right words as he kept shaking his head, sighing, and then back to talking.

Tears that first only appeared in his eyes, now streamed down his face. When they started falling, he'd tried to hide them, but I'd seen them anyway, and it seemed he'd noticed. After that he just let them fall, let them make their sorrowful path down his cheeks and onto the floor.

I just listened. Listened to what he said, but not catching every full sentence.

Sometimes I could clearly hear a word. Such as 'mum', 'sorry', and 'regret' but most of the words were just one random mixture of sounds.

I don't think it was his fault though. It was just that my mind couldn't catch all the info at once. The situation was strange, the subject was strange… it was something I'd never prepared myself for, no matter if I had tried or not. It was something nobody would've expected.

The look in his eyes were all I focussed on.

I remember how my mum told me about being able to see people's true emotions in their eyes. For example, my mum had the same emerald eyes as I have, maybe a bit lighter, but her were always happy and nice. They were trustworthily and honest.

Ever since she'd told me about people's eyes I would look at them in order to see what people really felt.

Though I'd personally try to hide my own feelings by looking away or hiding somewhat behind my bangs and the like.

There's only been one person yet, aside from my mum, who has been able to actually notice my true emotions, and who'd looked me in the eye, honest because they were absolutely sure they had nothing to hide from me, since, as he'd say, 'heroes don't lie,'.

Only Alfred had clear and honest eyes. Only he could be honest about how he felt and only he was to be fully trusted.

Of course we'd not told everything about ourselves yet, since everyone has secrets that are so secret they shouldn't be told to anyone, but around him you could be yourself. The air would feel happy and light, and you knew that whatever you said would be taken seriously.

It's not like he'd not laugh at me when I'd draw small fairies on my notes and tell him they were real –since really they are!- but it wasn't a mocking laugh.

It was a laugh filled with happiness, with honesty and with emotions I could only wish I'd feel so often as he did.

And whenever he'd laugh like that, I'd feel my heart beat faster and my body feel all warm. He didn't know himself, but he was able to brighten up people, he was able to take away their sorrow and pain, he was able to make me feel…

_Loved._

I realised I was starting to get off to my own world, and I quickly got myself to listen to my father again and look into his eyes. His eyes that proved that he meant it when he said sorry.

"…-Sorry Arthur, please, please believe me, I really am sorry!" tears kept falling over his cheeks as he continued, "…really,"

He fell silent. I didn't know what to do actually. I could've comforted him, or I could've tried to loosen up the atmosphere but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Suddenly he started talking again. It's not been long since he'd stopped, but it was something I didn't expect.

"Alfred is a good friend,"

I lifted up my head to look at him. I could feel how my face was filled with surprise, for once exactly the same emotion as how I felt, and I met my father's eyes.

"He really is Arthur. Keep him close,"

It was only then that I felt like I was able to talk.

"Why…?" I asked. My voice hoarse from the long silence of me. I didn't get why my dad would bring up Alfred. I knew Alfred had talked to him, since he'd said so himself, but I didn't think it was important enough to bring him up in the conversation.

"He's the one who talked me to my senses," my dad mumbled. He looked down at the floor as he continued, "He might seem dense, but he's a good friend. He can protect you from any more harm,"

For a moment I find it odd he brought up Alfred and tried to assure me he could keep me save and all, but I realised he was right.

Over the past weeks and days I'd really felt like Alfred was the spark of hope and happiness I needed in order to recover, in order to actually feel better. Life might have been crap, but I was finally able to see the happy parts of it.

"…I know," I answered.

My dad looked me in the eyes again and we continued to talk…

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><p>We'd talked about a lot of things. When I got more talk-active my dad started to become a bit calmer, knowing I was believing him and listening to him, instead of ignoring him.<p>

When I'd left the room the last I saw from his was a man. A sad, deeply sad man, filled with despair, but also determination.

Determination to overcome his addiction to alcohol, to go to rehab and make his life better and show his sons he wasn't fully lost yet.

Both he and I knew it'd be a long way. I still didn't know if he'd make it or not, since a lot of people eventually gave up and got addicted again, but at least he would try. And I'd give him a chance.

I don't believe I can ever fully trust my dad again, but I won't tell him. He seems to try hard to improve himself and I wont do anything to take him down. It might be too soon to get along with him again as if nothing ever happened, since I knew it's not something you can just toss aside and pretend it has never even been there, but seeing him work on it sure gave me some hope.

Some people might call me naïve or anything, but it felt right the way it was now.

That's been about three weeks ago now.

At the moment I made my way down the hall and back to my and Alfred's room.

Alfred was probably bored by now, annoying the nurses by telling them he wanted something to do or anything, and I figured it'd be the best to go down there as soon as possible.

I'd been taking a walk outside for a bit. I still stayed in the hospital for now, since recovering was somewhat slow after all the incidents, and I think they also tried to keep Alfred somewhat less bored.

They had removed his brace about a week ago, but he still needed to take it slow and let the wound heal.

Sometimes he had to have some type of rehab for walking, since his spine wasn't fully hit but still it got a lot of impact on his body, but since he was stubborn and masculine, the training really went well.

We'd be allowed to go out of the hospital again in about one or two weeks, depending on how fast we'd be fully recovered, but for now life was still peaceful.

Our homeroom teacher had made his way towards the hospital to tell us about the amount of school we'd missed. It turned out that we'd have to already start studying while being in the hospital and continue so in the winter holidays, so we'd be able to get back in class again after them.

Matthew had stayed around for the past few weeks as well, but he'd soon have to return to Canada for his school. Alfred didn't seem all too happy about not being able to have spent more fun time with his brother.

Of course he was happy when he'd come around in the hospital, sometimes together with his parents and sometimes alone, but Alfred really wished for being able to do more 'fun stuff' as he'd call it.

When I asked him what 'fun stuff' was supposed to mean, he just kept rambling about videogames, comics and what not. Even more then usual. I quickly shut up about it.

Even though Alfred kept complaining about everything being 'boring' or 'annoying' I still found myself grow closed to him.

We'd always been good friends ever since the first day, but whenever I was around him now, I'd go nervous. I could feel all weird whenever he'd stare at me with that weird emotion of his in his blue eyes.

It was as if his eyes resembled what I felt. This weird feeling of confusing but also peacefulness. Of feeling happy and safe around someone, but also aware about everything you did. Wondering if it would be seen as something good or bad or...

"Artie!" Alfred's voice beamed through the room as I entered. I was sure it could be heard down the hall as well, but I decided not to say anything. Alfred would only start to ramble about how bored he was anyways.

"Hello, Alfred," I answered, trying to make clear to him my voice was a lot softer then his. I don't know if he realised though.

I walked towards my own bed. I was a bit nervous, but this time it was a different reason then that weird feeling; today I had to tell him something important, something that'd change our lives.

Maybe not too drastic, but it definitely would.

"Alfred," I started after a silent moment. Alfred was watching TV anyways.

"Yeah?" Alfred replied, not really looking away from the screen, but rotating his head to he somewhat faced me anyways.

"I…" I started off, but soon I could feel my voice stop talking. I didn't want to talk about this. I'd been preparing to tell him about this for the past weeks, ever since I had the conversation with my dad, but I couldn't bring myself to actually say it.

"…I" I started again, hoping it'd work now. Alfred's eyes were now fully focussed on me. I didn't want to look him in the eye and instead turned my head to lie down on the pillow and closed my eyes, "…There's something I need to tell you," I managed to say.

"…What is it?" Alfred asked with a curious but somewhat hesitant voice. He seemed to notice it was something I didn't want to tell, something that was important but not fun.

"I…" I started again, and I gave a sigh in order to pull myself together, "I'll have to live with one of my brothers. My dad's in rehab now, and as soon as I'm kicked out of the hospital I'll be moving to one of my brothers. I don't know which of them yet, but I'll have to change schools, move and…" I could feel a tear fall from my cheek.

Weird, to see how upset I got of it. I first expected I'd have been happy to move away from this place where I had lived all these sad years, but it hurt me more to move away then to actually stay here.

"…oh," Alfred replied. He was obviously unpleasantly surprised about this new information and still needed to think it all through, "But… Where do yer brothers live?" he asked.

"All over the country. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland…" I replied, "I already sent a letter a few weeks ago, after I talked with my dad. I had to, I'm underage by law so I have to live with either of them, considering I don't want to go to some type of orphanage and I don't have any family left,"

I didn't want to talk anymore, and I was happy to already have my eyes shut. I tried to stop my tears and it seemed to work, but I knew that they'd start running again if I'd say anything else.

I could hear the movement of sheets and the chair next to my beak creaked. It seemed Alfred was sitting next to my bed now.

"Don't cry, 'kay Artie? I'll be all right," he said with a softer voice then usual.

I opened my eyes to look at him and met with his. He gave a smile; it was a bit of a sad one, but still it cheered me up.

And made me blush.

"I-I'm not crying!" I said, sitting up. I'd cried way too much over the past few weeks and it was time to become stronger and stop doing so.

"Yes, you are," he said, moving his hand up to my face. I could feel my stomach flutter and suddenly images of out kiss back in his house flashed in front of my eyes.

I could feel the tingling in my lips, the warmth spreading through me and my face heat up.

"Artie," Alfred said, leaning forwards while giving me a deep stare with his sky-blue eyes.

I got nervous. I wanted to turn away, shake my head, _snap out of it_.

But I didn't .

Instead I let the boy in front of me lean forward, let my heart take over my body instead of my mind, let the feeling spread through my body.

This feeling…

I was sure now…

This feeling must be called….

There it was again. The small warmth on my lips that could fully heat me up inside. It made my stomach tingle more then ever and I could feel how I secretly lounged for more.

I didn't care about anything in the world for a moment. I didn't care about people seeing us, I didn't care about moving away, I didn't care about how I kissed back.

All I cared for was Alfred.

I could feel him slipping a hand around my waist, carefully to not hurt my ribs. I could feel how my own body moved its hand up to Alfred's hair, first one hand then two, as if it was controlled by someone else but myself.

I could feel how we got closer and closer with emotions and feelings without speaking words.

_Yes, this feeling…it's called…_

I could feel how Alfred moved away. I felt a bit sad about knowing it was over and I felt like kissing him again, right now, but I realised why he stopped.

We were both breathing heavily. We'd been so occupied by the kiss that we didn't realise we had to breath, had to get back to the real world, had to live on and weren't able to stick in this perfect world…

I moved my hand towards my lips. I could still feel Alfred's lips on my own. The warmth hadn't fully left my body yet and I started to catch up again with my brain…

"Artie," I hear the American boy say. I looked up, meeting his eyes for the thousand time. But this time it gave a different feeling. A feeling of…

"Artie, I," Oh, only if my heart would stop beating so hard I might would be able to hear him properly, "…I,"

It felt like all these books I'd read, all these moments where main characters would start to develop relationships, would realise their feelings and would… _confess._

_But this felt so much more real._

"What I feel for ya," Alfred continued. Suddenly I could hear his voice clearly, "It… It's called _love,_"

I could feel how my heart exploded from feelings. Feelings of happiness, so much happiness I couldn't bear it.

And feelings of love, so much _love _I couldn't express it…

For once I knew what true love was… and it felt wonderful.

There wasn't anything else to describe it but the word _wonderful._ And it seemed as if even that word didn't fully explain it.

Without thinking I moved forward again, my arms and hands moving back to their position before, my face getting closer to Alfred's, hungry for more of that feeling, more of that sensation, _more of that love._

And that was the start of our relationship.

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><p><em>Author's Note/_

_Wow… that's the end for this series? _

_It feels sad to know it'd ended, but hey, did you see that? IT'S A CLIFFY. And did you remember what I told you at the AN above?_

_IT'S GETTING A SEQUEL._

_It'll either be a full story or a collection of oneshots filled with love about their life afterwards, but it'll be there! I don't know when though, since you all know I have to go back to school again this Monday, but at least you can be assured there will be one!_

_Uhgg I don't have much to tell about the story else but that, and I don't have anything to tell about myself but I DO HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL ALL YOU READERS;_

_Since really. I love you guys. You helped me write on with all your nice reviews, comments and fanart! You helped me stay motivated by all the alerts, watches, and favourites! You made me the happiest author ever by supporting me so much and always being there when I needed your help!_

_Please know that, no matter how sentimental this sounds, without you guys I could've never even thought of finishing this series!_

_I will now stop rambling about how awesome you guys are, but please keep it in mind that readers are the things authors like me drive to write on!_

_I enjoy it so much more when you are there to support me!_

_Oh and yeah please look forward to the steampunk AU fanfic I've been planning. I've been dying to write it, but I promised myself to finish ICL first XD hahaha_

_Please stay awesome and remember there will be a sequel! I don't know when I'll have the time to upload, but it'll appear someday!_

_THANKS SO MUCH. I CAN'T STOP THANKING YOU GUYS!_

_~ Rianne_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, __Hidekaz Himaruya_

_(08/20/11)_

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><p><em>Results of questions (so far);<em>

**_Alfred's Accent:_**

_**Yes:** 20_

_**No:** 6_

_**Lessen it down:** 8_

_**Neutral:** 14_

**_M or T rating:_**

_**M:** 18_

_**T:** 18_

_And thanks so much for all your awesome suggestions! I will try making them come true in the sequel!_


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